Eiyu no Kage
by AzureFlameXIIIGod
Summary: So...I became a 'Master,' apparently. I have this weird tattoo a floating old man pointed out to me, told me to chant some old-school incantation or something. Now i have nine strangers appear inside my head, and they're my 'Servants' who'll also be my teachers to make me more 'competent' in my prisoner's eyes... I don't know how to react to this. I wonder what they'll teach me?
1. Chapter 1: A Master needs Servants

_**Hello people to another crossover! This idea was sparked by a reviewer of mine by the name of Element-Overlord. One day he asked me about a crossover between Naruto and Fate/Stay Night. At first I didn't know what to do for plot until he/she had an idea to make nine servants give their power to Naruto. I fiddled around the idea that the nine servants would correlate with the number of tails he could properly use without going berserk. It progressed further into a full blown idea with his help in providing Heroes to use and my slight bit of research. **_

_**Warning, I am not a true Nasuverse fan. I've delved as deep as the animes, and even then my knowledge of the intricate details of the VN's are little to none; I'll try to research as much as I can on the subject, but it wont be as in-depth as some crossovers describe. **_

_**So! To clear things up, here are some plot details:**_

_**The Holy Grail is gone**_

_**This is after the failed retrieval mission**_

_**Bashing will be nigh invisible and I'll try to paint characters in a realistic light Ex: No Sasuke the emo, no Sakura the Banshee, no Jiraiya the neglecting Perv, etc. Characters that have been bashed heavily will have a realistic reaction. **_

_**Naruto will have a harem (for you people who might ask for pairings)**_

_**Naruto will not be godlike, but will be as skilled as his servants that will teach him (Hiraishin jutsu is under debate)**_

_**To master a servant, Naruto needs to be able to use his servants' respective Noble Phantasms, and only then will he know his servants' names and stories**_

_**With that out of the way, let's start the story!**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own anything except story, which I share with Element-Overlord.**_

Chapter 1: A Master needs Servants

**-Beep-**

A sun-kissed, spiky, blonde haired boy lay at a hospital bed unconscious and at death's door. He had a headband, which had a blue cloth and a metal plate at the center in which an engraving of a spiral leaf was there; it was on his chest, where his battered and bruised hands covered by clean bandage wraps held it and covered it. His whiskered face marred with bruises was also covered in bandages. This is Naruto Uzumaki, jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune; he became a sacrificial vessel to hold a Chakra beast of raw power.

**-Beep-**

Chakra, the manifestation and combination of one's physical and spiritual energies, fuels life for every living being in the world. And for a child, a thirteen-year-old to hold it inside him since birth certainly has its disadvantages. Examples like a nearly impossible control of Chakra inside the body, pariah status, and a continued feeling of imminent death were some of the disadvantages.

**-Beep-**

Although he had disadvantages for being a jinchuuriki, he did manage to make some friends, or at least people he could call friends.

Friends who are also hurt or on death's door as well.

**-Beep-**

Friend, a word for companionship, camaraderie, and a bond of trust between two individuals. One friend chose to break, to sever, to unbind the bond he'd forged with Naruto; He chose to betray Naruto for power and revenge.

Sasuke Uchiha of the nearly extinct Uchiha clan lusted for revenge because of his brother, who was the cause of the clan's near extinct status. Uchiha were glorified for their special eyes capable of copying ninja techniques, or jutsus and mastery over illusory techniques utilizing the eyes called Sharingan, or the copy-wheel eye. He was a raven-haired boy with bangs going past the length of his chin and the back of his hair spiked upward like a bird.

Traumatized from the event, Sasuke was pampered by the village of Konoha to earn his inheritance, keep his loyalty, and to manipulate him for other reasons unknown. As consequence, Sasuke became spoiled, acting as if he should have everything and anything he wants, and it was spoon-fed to him by villagers. Furthering his desire for power, corruption by the Curse Mark, a seal that made Sasuke drawn to power Orochimaru, a traitor to the village, provided; it led to Sasuke running away to pursue more power.

**-Beep-**

The Hokage, Tsunade, a Sannin and former teammate of Orochimaru, sent a team of rookies, which included Naruto. The members sent to retrieve Sasuke were Chunin Shikamaru Nara, Genin Kiba Inuzuka, Genin Neji Hyuuga, Genin Chouji Akimichi, and Genin Naruto Uzumaki.

Sasuke did not run away without help. Orochimaru's lackeys, the Sound Four, the elite ninjas of the traitor Sannin aided the Uchiha. The retrieval team whittled down in numbers as each member faced off with one of the Sound Four. Chouji took on a tout, burly man named Jirobo. Neji fought a man with six arms named Kidomaru. Kiba and his dog partner, Akamaru, fought a twin merged together in one body by the names of Sakon and Ukon. Shikamaru was left to fight the last member, a genjutsu, or illusory master by the name of Tayuya.

**-Beep-**

Naruto reached Sasuke, but then he found out there was one more member standing in his way to get Sasuke back. Kimimaro, a man capable of manipulating his bones as weapons charged at Naruto. A friend of Naruto, Rock Lee, jumped in to intercept and take Naruto's place in order for Naruto to chase Sasuke.

Eventually, Naruto was the only one left to apprehend Sasuke at a waterfall; a monument more like. There Naruto questioned Sasuke's motives. There, Naruto felt Sasuke's despair, hate, and desire to kill his older brother. Sasuke wanted revenge for the death of his clan, for Itachi's betrayal. Naruto fought Sasuke, trying to make him reconsider and tell Sasuke what would happen if he continued with his simple plan of gaining power.

To be branded with the Curse mark is to be a vessel for Orochimaru.

Sasuke did not care about the consequences of his actions; he needed power to kill his brother to paint his dead clan in a better light. Unknowingly, he destroyed that idea by leaving the Village.

**-Beep-**

Sasuke fought with the Curse mark activated, boosting his combat capabilities and power. Naruto struggled against Sasuke, but he refused to forfeit or yield because he promised a teammate to bring him back home! As such, Naruto, used Kyuubi's power to even the odds. The dark, corruptive power of the Curse mark against one tail of power from the Chakra beast.

The corruptive power evolved, turning Sasuke into what could be called a monster; his skin became darker, sclera pitch black, a four-pointed star on the bridge of his nose, longer and purplish hair, and wings made out of humongous hands.

Naruto on the other hand was shrouded in a red cloak resembling a fox. He too could be looked at as a monster with his canines enlarged and his whisker marks becoming more defined, while his hair became spikier than before.

The two stared at each other at the foot of their respective statues of Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju. The two were aiming to end it in one last attack. Sasuke formed hand signs and move his left hand away from him, revealing black lightning emerging from his left hand. As for Naruto, he willed his Chakra to be a storm, twist, turn, grind into a ball of energy in his right hand. The two leap off their position, aiming to clash at the middle of the waterfall.

**-Beep-**

"**NARUTOOOOOO!**"

"**SASUKEEEEEEE!**"

**-Beep-**

Sasuke lived and ran away, while Naruto lay on the cold, hard ground, unconscious and badly wounded. A visible hole in his orange jumpsuit suggested he was impaled by something; it would become a scar. His teacher found him and went back to the village with Naruto on his back.

Mission failure...

**-Beep-**

Kyuubi sat in its cage, annoyed by its warden's incompetence to fight. All he had going for him was his Shadow Clones, Rasengan, and itself as a trump card. Even with its power, its warden lost, and it infuriated the beast to no end! Naruto needed a proper teacher. It did not necessarily mean a shinobi teacher, but a teacher nonetheless. It knew several teachers more than qualified to fit the resume it needed.

Problem was, Naruto had to be branded. And the entity that could brand him was lost forever in the era before Chakra.

"You are in distress, my child?" An old man's voice rang around the empty, sewage halls of Kyuubi's prison. Kyuubi recognized the voice, its father, the one who separated the nine biju from the ten tails, the Shinju.

"**Old man... I need help.**" Kyuubi confessed as it bowed to the spectral form of a wrinkly, old man in long, white robes with a staff in his right hand as he floated on six black balls underneath his crossed legs.

"And what type of assistance do you require?" The old man queried.

"**I want him to be branded as a Master.**" Kyuubi answered, pointing up to clarify his point that his warden needs to be more powerful.

"A master you say? Quite the hefty favor you are asking for, my child. I'm only here as a last resort, and you wish to make your warden stronger?"

"**Yes...**"

"Quite the influential boy he is, if he's managed to make you care." The old man snickered as he prepared a humongous magical circle. Kyuubi was about to retort, but the old man interrupted, "Do you still have the artifacts?"

"**Yes...**"

The old man snapped his fingers, "He has been branded."

"**That's it?**"

"Yes. Now ready the artifacts at the nine circles inside." The old man ordered and the Kyuubi complied, unsealing the artifacts from its palms and placing the artifacts at the specified circles inside the magic circle. "Now to call your warden for a meeting..."

**-Beep-**

The retrieval team looked over their fallen comrade, still in a coma. All of them were morbid, denying that Naruto could be in front of Death's door, and Naruto wasn't knocking yet. Shikamaru, a lazy boy with his hair tied to resemble a pineapple rubbed the back of his head. He was the least injured, a broken pinky for his troubles. Chouji was in the E.R. as did Kiba, and Neji. Naruto was fine, but in a month-long coma.

"It's been a month now, Naruto. Wake up already." Kiba said as he sighed. The wild boy clenched his fists in anger towards Sasuke; he was at fault, the cause of this misery. Akamaru whimpered inside his master's coat. "What? Are you scared of Sakura? Don't worry, she knew we did our best. She's not blaming anyone. You can wake up." Kiba vainly urged the blonde to wake up. Sakura is Naruto's teammate. She's a lively girl with a heavy punch and a powerful voice. She's also a fangirl of Sasuke's. The day Sasuke left, she begged the unconscious boy to get him home, and when the team returned battered beyond normal, Sakura wanted nothing more than to scream her heart out in despair.

She didn't blame Naruto. She didn't blame anyone. It was just painful to accept that the boy she fell for out of impulse was gone, a traitor to the village, a criminal to the shinobi world.

"Hey guys..." A feminine voice called out from the door. "It's four in the afternoon, and you guys haven't eaten lunch yet. So we decided to bring you some." The owner of the voice was Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru and Chouji's teammate. She's a platinum blonde girl with a bang covering her right eye and a ponytail. Coming with her was Tenten Yaiba, Neji and Lee's teammate. She's a brown haired girl with hair tied into two buns. After that, Hinata Hyuuga, Neji's cousin and Kiba's teammate. She's a blue, short haired girl with bangs framing her chin. The girls brought in food: barbecue, sushi, dango, salad, and a large bowl of ramen. As soon as the boys saw the bowl, they cringed in anger. Sasuke was the cause of both the despair and Naruto's condition!

The girls looked on, silently cheering for the blonde boy to wake up in order to not see the saddened faces of their friends. Ino, however took it upon herself to try and alleviate some of the stress and moody atmosphere, "C'mon, guys! Eat up! You lazy bastards can't get all cozy in the hospital when there's missions to do! Get your asses moving on the double; our resident prankster won't like it that you guys are being so emotional!"

Reluctantly, the boys grabbed bowls and chopsticks to share the bowl of ramen. One steamy bowl was left at the nightstand beside Naruto. The girls frowned slightly because of the blatant message to wake up. They wanted Naruto to wake up too, but they don't need to be that cliché in doing so.

"Itadakimasu." The boys said together as saying grace. They split their chopsticks and ate their respective bowls of ramen.

**-Beep-**

"Huh? I'm back here again... Hey, Kyuubi!" Naruto yelled, his voice echoing through the sewers. "What's going on? Why am I back here?" Naruto questioned as he walked to his destination. "What? No back talk? That's disappointing. Hey! Answer me already." Naruto ventured the sewers, making splashes with his footsteps as he eyed the pipes in the hallways. Minutes later, he arrived at the center of the sewer maze, Naruto's destination and Kyuubi's prison. The water receded here; it was only dry ground. In front of the humongous cage was a gigantic circle with what seemed to be a giant sealing justu. Next to the circle was an old man, floating on nothing.

"**Took you long enough.**" Naruto stared at the colossal red, nine tailed fox with proportional, rabbit-length ears. It crossed its arms underneath its chin to show its feeling of boredom.

"Why I wasn't dropped in front of you is a mystery in itself, fuzzball." Naruto retorted. The fox growled, not liking Naruto's nickname for him, "So I'll ask again, why am I here?"

"**You're here because I'm tired of your incompetence, brat. I pulled some strings and-**"

"YOU pulled some strings?" Interrupted an old man, "Who was it that asked for this particular favor?" The fox sighed in defeat.

"**You did.**"

"That's right. Now then, Naruto Uzumaki, I'm the Sage of the Six Paths, the man that separated the juubi into nine, individual bijus." The man introduced himself as the Sage, the founder of ninjutsu. Naruto eyed the man suspiciously. A ghostly, old man is in his brain...who's to say it's a trick casted by the fox to trick him into releasing the Kyuubi from the seal! "I'm here because you need teachers." Naruto fumbled at the thought.

"Teachers?" Naruto repeated, testing how the word sounded in his mouth, "Really? I was called here to meet teachers? But this is my mind! How are you going to get me teachers?"

The Sage pointed to Naruto's left hand, "With that." Wondering what he's pointing to, Naruto looked at the back of his left hand to see a red tattoo of a small spiral with nine lines spread apart from the spiral. Naruto was baffled. When did that appear on his hand? Naruto tried to wipe the tattoo away because he thought it was paint. It didn't disappear. Naruto tried again, this time, furiously rubbing on the tattoo to try to make it disappear. He tried multiple times after that, and all ended in failure; the boy could not get rid of the mark on his left hand, "Its futile, boy. You can't get rid of the mark. You are now a Master, and as a Master, you need servants."

"Huh? Master? Servant? What are you getting at, old Sage? First it was teachers, now servants? Make up your mind!" Naruto was definitely confused. What was the mark on his hand have to do with his so-called teachers? He would ask more, but the Sage raised a hand to signal to halt of the jinchuuriki's multiple queries.

"All will be answered shortly, but for now, step into the center of the circle and follow my words..." Reluctantly, Naruto followed the Sage's orders and stepped into the center of the circle. Naruto suspiciously eyed the mysterious objects scattered evenly in a circular path. With a deep breath, Naruto recited the incantation.

_**Let silver and steel be the essence.**_

_**Let stone and the archduke of contracts be the foundation.**_

_**Let red be the color I pay tribute to.**_

_**Let rise a wall against the wind that shall fall.**_

_**Let the four cardinal gates close.**_

_**Let the three-forked road from the crown reaching unto the Kingdom rotate.**_

_**Let it be filled. Again. Again. Again. Again.**_

_**Let it be filled fivefold for every turn, simply breaking asunder with every filling.**_

_**Let my will create thy body and thy sword create my fate.**_

_**If thou dost accede to this will and reason, answer me!**_

_**I hereby swear,**_

_**I will be all that is good in the eternal world,**_

_**I will be the disposer of evil in the eternal world.**_

_**Thou clad with the Great Trinity,**_

_**Come forth from the circle of restraint,**_

_**Guardians of the Heavenly scales!**_

With the incantation concluded, a drop of Naruto's blood dripped onto the circle. The circle Naruto stood on glowed blinding red. Pain shot up Naruto's left hand. The tattoo was glowing in the same intensity as the light emanating from the circle below him. What was going on?

The glowing stopped and the pain in Naruto's left hand subsided. The blonde clutched his hand tenderly, trying to see if it would continue to be in pain. Thankfully, he only felt his right hand's firm grasp. Naruto looked up from where his gaze set upon; he noticed there's another person here. No...there are nine more people in here!

Naruto looked at the circle underneath each person. Naruto turned to the right and still looked at what was inscribed underneath. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine... The number stopped at nine and he met the first stranger.

The stranger is clad in blue cloth, but covered in intricate armor. There is a breastplate, gauntlets, and thigh armor to go with the what seemed to be a non-restricting skirt. The stranger is a warrior no doubt; a samurai perhaps? No... The stranger looks far more regal than the average samurai. The warrior looked feminine with blonde hair tied in a bun at the back of the stranger's head and bangs slightly longer than the person's chin. The stranger stares at Naruto with calculative, green eyes and a face that held indifference. The warrior unsheathed a sword and stabbed it on the ground.

To the stranger's right, is a definite man with hair as white as his sensei's. He's a giant compared to the blonde that summoned him. He wears a red crop jacket held together by a string by his collarbone. He wears a tight shirt armor that shows his sculpted figure underneath. On his waist is a buckled, red cloth resembling the coat tails of a trench coat draped over his black pants littered with belt straps on the pant legs.

Next to the red-clad man is a man in blue. The man has blue hair slicked upwards like grass, and four strands drape over his forehead while there is a long strand tied up at the back. He wears a deep ultramarine full-body tights. On his shoulders were layered pauldrons. The tights have aesthetic metallic lines over itself, but manages to not hinder wide movement. He smiled as he handled a spear over his shoulders in a hanged manner.

The fourth stranger is no doubt a woman. She's a magenta-haired woman with a scar running across her delicate, yet oddly beautiful face. The next prominent features are her...womanly assets possibly equal to that of Tsunade's in that category. She wears a brown choker, a dark pink captain's vest that does not hide her assets, white pants, and thigh-high, dark brown boots. In her hands is a pair of guns; she must be a pirate, Naruto hypothesized.

The fifth is also a woman, but a kitsune hanyou instead. She has bright pink hair like Sakura, but is tied up into pigtails and tied by a regal purple bow. In front of the bow are distinguishing pair of golden fox ears. She also has defining assets like the previous woman. Her outfit is a purple kimono with black accents and white contrast next to it. It is wrapped in a black obi. The bottom of the kimono drapes between her legs and shows the silky smooth skin at its side. Behind her, a bushy, golden fox tail wagged happily. Her arms have detached sleeves with the same color scheme as the kimono. She looked happy. Naruto saw her fiddling with a floating mirror.

The sixth stranger is also a woman despite her face hidden by a hooded robe. Her golden eyes shine through the shadows cast by her hood. Naruto feels nervous seeing the woman; it's as if he is seeing death in front of him. But that can't be true, right? Naruto hoped not because he did not want to die in his head.

The seventh stranger stands tall, but is fidgeting slightly. The person is covered in full body black, metal armor; another warrior. The warrior's armor looks more chaotic and attune to evil than to the feminine looking swordsman with smooth contour armor at the start. The swordsman's helmet has one horizontal slit to see through and has a long strand of blue hair connected at the back of the helmet. The swordsman also presents his sword in the same manner as the first swordsman did by stabbing it into the ground in front of him.

The eighth stranger is a girl with long, flowing purple hair that split at the middle and a blue bow on the left side of her head. She's the one with an outfit that leaves little to no imagination as her nether region is only covered by a small, metal cup somehow staying on for dear life. She wears a long collared trench coat with gigantic clamps, which hides her flat chest. She doesn't have clothing hiding her nether region, but does sport a pair of metal greaves with spiked kneecaps. She floated and stared at Naruto with slight interest. Naruto debated whether that interest was attraction or a predatory stare. Naruto wondered how she fought.

The last stranger is also a woman. She's blonde with long hair tied in a braid, and her hair near her face is swept down in an almost lioness look. Her head has a visor in the shape of a 'M' and is securely placed on her forehead. Her armor is a pair of gauntlets and armor that covers her abdomen and hips. Her well-endowed breasts are thankfully covered in a purple shirt and a darker purple shroud, which ends at the elbows and ends at the start of the armor covering her abdomen. She wears a long, purple skirt that ends by the ankles and splits slightly to the right to show her elegant, smooth legs wrapped tightly by black stockings and sports a pair of boots with metal coverings. On her left is a leather scabbard with metal tips; the hilt of the sword showed intricate craftsmanship of the highest quality that could only come from Iron country.

Naruto had to admit despite being intimidated (and slightly attracted) by the newcomers, the strangers did look like formidable foes by shinobi standards. Still it begged the question, "Who are you people?"

The first stranger, the feminine-looking warrior stepped forward. The blonde jinchuuriki looked at the warrior with an alerted gaze. She spoke with a heavenly voice only a woman could muster and asked, "Are you our Master?" She knelt, and the other strangers followed. Naruto didn't know how to answer the question. Kyuubi and the Sage did say he'd become a Master, but this is what they meant? His thoughts were interrupted once more with the swordsman's voice speaking once more, "I'll ask again... Are you our Master?"

**-Beep-**

_**So…what do you think? I hope I've made you readers enjoy this pilot chapter. This is really just experimental, but if I get a decent amount of favorites, follows, etc. then I might do a continuation.**_

_**So follow, favorite, review, I don't care. Review or PM me if you have unanswered questions or complaints with my story. Flames will be ignored because I hate you bastards. (There is a fine line between Criticism and Flame, and I know the difference)**_

_**So this is Azure with this new story, signing off!**_


	2. Chapter 2: The Beginning of Eiyu no Kage

_**Hey guys. So I got a huge spike of follows and favorites in just day one! That's is surprising. I know that kinda makes me sound like an author that whores myself for things like that, but it's a motivating sight to see people like my work. **_

_**For those asking which Archer it is, it's Shirou, not EMIYA.**_

_**Now let's start the chapter!**_

_**Disclaimer: first chapter**_

Chapter 2: The Beginning of the Eiyu no kage

"Are you our Master?" The swordsman repeated.

"Yes...?" Naruto slowly answered, testing how his response sounded to the feminine swordsman. Looking closely, the blonde ninja finally thought that the warrior before him is actually female. He had doubts about it all, but Naruto figured that there's no possible way a man could be THAT girly without actually being a girl. Almost immediately, Naruto was bombarded with the memory of Haku, a dead ninja from Naruto's first C-rank mission that was honest-to-goodness a man. Before this event, Haku made Naruto's judgement skills on a person's gender destroyed; he had no confidence to figure out if a feminine boy or a masculine girl were their proper genders.

The now-realized swordsWOMAN stood up from her knelt position, "Then the pact is forged, Master. I am Saber." She introduced herself, bowing slightly to the underage Master. The others followed her example and some of them, mainly the men bowed in respect, while the women curtsied (it looked strange to see a pirate woman and a floating girl curtsie).

The man in red spoke next, "I'm Archer. You look like a respectable Master, so I shall aid you in any way I can." Naruto looked at the giant; he seemed respectable as well. The blonde Master would note that the man before him looked quite formidable as an enemy and might be an excellent teacher…

Then, seemingly in order, the strangers introduced themselves in the same order as Naruto's gaze fell on them. The spearman smirked, "It's an honor meeting you, Master. I'm Lancer. I do hope we get along." Lancer stabbed his spear into the ground and leaned on it.

The Pirate woman introduced herself, "Master, I am Rider. My only hope is that we get to plunder an insurmountable number of treasure troves, and that you shall pay me a monetary reward for my services!" The woman's Master cringed at the declaration. Monetary reward? Blasphemy! Naruto's wallet, Gama-chan is already starving! Naruto decided that Rider would be a Servant he'd rarely use due to her already greedy personality.

The Kitsune Hanyou jumped for joy, cheering, "Nice to meet you, Master I am Tama- erm I mean I'm Caster. I can tell you have a very pure heart and have the purest of intentions, so we'll get along just fine..." Her smile became plastered onto her face, and it threatened to split her face in half. Naruto didn't need to pay attention to the floating mirror; it was flying wildly around Caster with no exact destination.

The hooded woman was next. She called herself, "Assassin, Master. I'm called Assassin." Naruto looked closer into Assassin's hood. Nothing hid her flawless face except the shadows that shrouded Assassin's hidden visage. She didn't speak anymore than that and waited for Naruto to move on to the next Servant.

The armor-clad black swordsman gurgled a jumbled sentence. Naruto assumed that the man was trying to restrain himself. Is it because he can't control his anger? Naruto didn't know for sure, but what he did know was that the swordsman was trying to maintain his sanity. The swordsman growled out, "Ber...serkER! Mast...er." The ninja Master slightly flinched at the hint of Berserker's true rage, but quickly recovered to nod in respect at the warrior for trying to not cut his Master in half.

The floating exhibitionist (what else could Naruto call her?) said, "I'm Alter Ego. Pleasure to meet your acquaintance, Master." She chuckled lightly, and it was absolutely harmless; though Naruto felt his spine tingle fearfully. Something was just off about her. Maybe its because she has that predatory grin like the Proctor in the exam…what was her name? Anko? Naruto dismissed the thought and moved on to the last stranger.

"It is an honor to be thy Servant, Master," Said the swordswoman. She like the blue swordswoman had an aura of superiority, gracefulness, and power, "I am Ruler." She bowed to her Master eloquently. What is it with these armored swordsmen acting so regal and polite? Naruto bowed back, albeit nervously.

"Um…nice to meet you all."

"**Aw don't be scared, brat. These are you teachers!**" Kyuubi sounded happy…yet the beast's face hadn't changed at all, nor did it move from its position of its head crossed over its arms. Naruto was conflicted about how to react to that.

"Yeah…I'm getting mixed signals from you, fuzzball. These are my teachers! Says the fox that didn't change facial expressions at least a tiny bit!" Naruto waved his arms outward to emphasize his point. Never mind, the ninja had a snarky remark to recite after all.

"**Hey! I wouldn't be doing this if you had been a better ninja!**" Kyuubi roared from his cage.

"You've seen my childhood right?"

"**Yes.**"

"Then you should know the reason why I'm such a _terrible_ ninja! No proper teachers, no proper guidance, and no way to get stronger because of that!" The volume of Naruto's voice elevated to a yell.

"**Oh cry me a river.**" Kyuubi replied, not caring

"Hey-"

Saber interrupted, placing a hand on Naruto's left shoulder, "Master, I would not suggest angering an entity of raw power…"

"Saber's right you know," The Sage stated, still floating, "My child is quite…eh what's the word…difficult when angered."

"You got that right." Naruto muttered.

"**What was that, brat?**" Kyuubi growled, "**Care to run by that me again?**"

The jinchuuriki stiffened, "N-nothing!" Kyuubi may be behind bars, but even a beast can instill fear while inside its cage. The Fox snorted in satisfaction; its job of scaring its warden in even the slightest bit was successful.

"**That's what I thought. Now, let's talk about your teachers/ servants. I've given you the liberty to master my Chakra if you can master each servant's greatest weapon in the order given. You start with Saber, then Archer, Lancer, Rider, Caster, Assassin, Berserker, Alter Ego, and finally Ruler. Once you've mastered their respective ultimate weapons, you will gain control over a tail of power.**"

Naruto restated Kyuubi's statement to clarify the beast's words, "So I master Saber, I get full mastery of one tail? I master Archer, I get full mastery of two tails?"

"That's exactly what it means, young one." The Sage answered, "Kyuubi here has graciously given you the tools to be mastered; it's your choice whether to gain full control of Kyuubi or not."

Naruto looked down to the ground. He was trying to comprehend what was happening. So he now has Servants, who he has to 'master' to not go berserk when going into any tailed mode. However, there was something bugging the blonde that he had to ask, "Why? Why allow me to master you when all you've wanted was to take over my body? What's with the sudden gesture of kindness -which is nice by the way- of throwing away your pride to give me your power on a silver platter?"

"**D-don't get the wrong idea here, brat! You are such a disgrace as a shinobi that I'm giving you the opportunity to be a warrior worthy to be in the history books!**"

"What, like a hero? Don't be absurd, fuzzball. I'm planning to be Hokage; nothing more, nothing less. I'm not planning on being a ninja with the destiny to save the world! That's just stupid!" Naruto never caught the Sage's imperceptible frown. The old man knew the boy was lying.

Kyuubi was furious, and because of that, he didn't see the lie. It slammed its paws on the ground, showing its rage over Naruto's opinion, "**You'll waste my generous gift to be just a Hokage that won't be famous for anything?!**"

The Sage interrupted once more, "Young man, the Fourth Hokage is someone you idolize, correct?"

"Yeah…"

"I've looked into your memories, not the extremely personal ones, the relevant ones. The Fourth Hokage was a hero in the Third Ninja War and a hero for saving the village. You wanted to be a hero…a Hokage because of the Fourth Hokage… what changed, young man?" Naruto stiffened on the spot. Saber noted her Master's sudden rigid form. Then that rigid torso of her Master started shivering; whether out of terror or anger, she'd find out shortly.

"How can I be called Hokage or a Hero for that matter if I can't even save a friend?!" Naruto yelled at the Sage.

"**You mean that lost cause?**" Kyuubi asked in anger.

"Shut up, fuzzball! He's a friend I deeply care about!"

"**He's an abomination! A monster that doesn't deserve to live anymore!**"

"You take that back!" Naruto demanded. The beast ignored the order, snorting at the boy's attempt to assert control over it. The Fox was about to retort when-

"SILENCE!" Naruto and Kyuubi looked at the Sage, who looked bewildered by the source of the sound. It clicked to the arguing two that the voice was feminine in origin. They decided to look at the one who might have been able to produce a shout like that: Saber. Though the woman the arguing duo suspected looked shocked as well. Somehow the men in the room stiffened. Even Berserker wasn't fidgeting a tiny bit!

"Master… you're being very difficult!" Caster stepped in front of Naruto, "Kyuubi has given you the greatest of gifts it could offer, and you look for fault within the gift you received. Are you telling me you don't want us?" All the Servants stiffened at Caster's accusation. The young Master saw tears well up in Caster's eyes and felt terrible for making the Hanyou (almost) cry.

Naruto sighed deeply. "Caster… That's not it. I just feel like I don't deserve you all or Kyuubi's generosity. Kyuubi's right, I'm a sorry excuse of a shinobi."

"No you're not!" Caster said, trying to cheer her Master, "You just haven't been taught correctly. That's why we're here!"

Saber remembered something after hearing Caster's statement, "How are we here anyway? The Holy Grail was destroyed." She turned to the floating Sage for answers.

"It's quite simple really, Saber." The Sage replied, "I'm a sort of 'God' in this era. The Magi of the past died out with the previous era. The era of Shinobi rose with the discovery of Chakra and ninshuu, the nonviolent version of ninjutsu people would have used had they not corrupted it!" The Sage's rage didn't need to be expressed with words; his rage physically cracked the walls of the sewer mindscape, "But that's another story for another time. Being one of the first users of Chakra gave me power to bend reality… and when I read about the Holy Grail wars of your era; how heroes of old were summoned to fight, I tested it and it worked. The main difference was that Prana was replaced with Chakra. Saber, Archer, Lancer, Rider, Caster, Assassin, Berserker, Alter Ego, Ruler, you all are running simply on the massive supply of Chakra your Master is providing."

That certainly was a shock for the Servants. The thirteen-year-old shinobi was fueling them? Granted they were summoned with a beast of pure power and a so-called 'God' of the era.

The Sage started to fade away, and Kyuubi panicked, "Old man!"

"Now, now my child. You already know I'm dead. Why act surprised?" The Sage was very nonchalant about the event. Naruto guessed that being dead doesn't surprise anyone anymore, "Naruto…Kyuubi thought you deserved to master all its tails, when the previous jinchuurikis weren't adequate enough to be given such an honor."

"What?!"

"I'd love to tell you more, but I've overstayed my welcome. Farewell, young one." The Sage ended on the high note before fading into the sewage background.

"**I know what you're going to ask, kid. You're not going to know about my previous hosts until later. You've already been bombarded with too many things already.**"

"Who were your previous hosts?" Naruto asked, not caring about the other events that transpired literally minutes ago, "What's so special about me? What distinguishes me from your other hosts? What did I do to deserve your trust?"

"…"

"You wouldn't even give me the light of day when I first stumbled into this place, but now you want me to fully master your power?! What gives?"

"…**I've had enough of your ramblings for today, brat. Just get out of here.**" Kyuubi's left paw reached out to the blonde warden. Naruto took a cautious step back, which proved to be useless when he was flicked by the gargantuan index finger of the beast. The blonde Master faded away into golden sparkles.

Caster turned to the Fox demon, "That wasn't very nice."

"**Hmph…he was pissing me off.**"

"That doesn't mean you could just flick him back into consciousness!" Caster retorted in annoyance. The other Servants were watching the conversation with slight awe and terror that the Hanyou looked very nonchalant conversing with the colossal beast.

In the real world…

"Gah!" Naruto's eyes went wide open. He gasped for air, "Damn fuzzball and its stupid wakeup calls!" He sat upright from his bed and inspected himself, "Hm…I'm like a mummy…" Naruto ripped them off and tossed them on the ground; he was already healed of skin-deep injuries. The boy went and got off his bed and inspected the night sky from the window.

Then the familiar scent of his favorite food entered the blonde's nostrils. He snapped to the general direction of the scent and saw the bowl at the nightstand. He grabbed the bowl and a card beside it.

_Wake up already…_ -_ from the guys_

"Thanks…guys?" Naruto wasn't sure who these _guys_ were, but he had an idea that it must be Kiba, Shikamaru, Neji, and Chouji, "Time to eat!" Naruto snapped the chopsticks that sat next to the bowl and took his first taste, "Ugh…it's cold… But cold ramen is better than waiting for three minutes to heat this ramen of the North Pole!" Naruto quickly devoured the bowl of sweet nectar of the gods and plopped the bowl back on the nightstand.

"Ahh…that hits the spot." The blonde patted his stomach. It was quite satisfying despite the cold, bland flavor it gave. He guessed that he was just really hungry.

Naruto sat on his bed as he looked at the bright, full moon. There, he wondered about what happened in his head.

Nine Servants who'd teach him combat. There were possibly three or four swordsmen there, one spearman, one gunner, one combat seal master possibly, one taijutsu specialist, and one stealth master. Naruto shivered at the thought; if he'd master Kyuubi by that time, then only the strongest of the strong could force Naruto's hand to use Kyuubi's power! He looked at his mark, _What is this anyway?_

"_That is a command spell. It's a mark that shows you're our Master. It will only disappear when you've used an order one of us has to obey; though since you summoned nine Servants than the usual one, I wonder if it sticks with the usual three orders before disappearing?_"

"Saber?"

"_Yes, Master?_"

"Huh… so this is that thing with the…whatchamacallit…telepathy?"

"_No, Master._"

"Then what is it?"

"_Simply put, we can communicate with you, and your mind receives the message._"

"Oh…" Naruto wonderfully croaked out. _That conversation died out quickly…_

"_Oh I doubt that, Master!_" A man's elated voice echoed inside Naruto's head.

"Lancer?"

"_The one and only!_" He answered gleefully, "_Say, Master… are there any cute girls in this era?_" Before Naruto could answer the question, another voice interrupts him.

"_Lancer! Stop wagging your tail._" Another man's voice entered the conversation; he was the source of the interruption. The voice was gruff and deep, yet not like Berserker's struggling voice; Naruto deduced that it must be Archer.

"_Hey! Did you just imply that I am a dog?!_" Lancer's rage boiled instantly.

"_Archer, don't insult Lancer._"

"_Ehh? Saber, why not?_"

"_Archer, it's not good to insult a fellow Servant. It's bad enough he's the punching bag in Carnival Phantasm!_" Caster scolded the giant red-clad man.

"_Hmm? How do you know about that?_" Archer asked the furry Servant.

"_Other potential Servants get to watch the War. Lancer always seemed the be the casualty though…_" Caster seemed downcast as she said that.

"_Hah! That was the best part, Caster!_" A Female voice, Rider, entered the fray.

"_It was quite entertaining seeing the dog you are squirm in that barrel._" The condescending voice of Alter Ego ironically pierced Lancer's ego.

"_Gil..gaMESH! …Not! HONOR…able!_" Berserker chipped in as he remembered one tragic event for Lancer within that particular War.

"_Gilgamesh enacted a crude way in eliminating you, Lancer._" The second-to-last last voice, Assassin, commented.

"_DON'T REMIND ME!_" Lancer screamed, "_Damn you, GILGAMESH!_"

Naruto laughed a bit at the casual conversation/argument going on inside his head. He wondered who Gilgamesh was, though it quickly went away like a breeze. The Servants seemed to be fairly likeable people. Maybe he could give them a shot. He was given the opportunity to fully master Kyuubi's power; he should take the chance.

"_Master…_"

"Yes…Ruler, is it?"

"_Yes, Master._" She answered, "_About thy doubts, I can only say that if thou art to become a leader, thou must expect betrayal, loss, and insubordination. Losing a friend that has been blinded by revenge and a lust of power is a friend thou cannot hope to save. It is best to-_"

"No, Ruler. I won't give up just yet. Sasuke is still redeemable. He can change. He needs just one push to see that he's done wrong."

"_Then if thou doth succeed, Master, what doth thou think will happen to Sasuke, the traitor of thy Village?_"

"…"

"_What can thou say for thy friend when thou doth bring him back from thy battle?_"

"…"

"_I agree that he is redeemable for now, but he must die if he refuses to return._"

"No! I can't agree to that!" Naruto yelled at Ruler, "Sasuke's still my friend. I can convince him to come back!" The Servants did not say anything for minutes, "Just to prove you wrong, I'm going to get stronger! I'll get stronger to be on par with Sasuke. I'll get stronger so we can see eye to eye. I'll get stronger so I can convince him to come home."

"_Why doth thou wish to see him come back?_" Ruler asked curiously.

"Because I made a promise! And Naruto Uzumaki doesn't break promises!" Naruto confidently answered, "Saber! Let's start with my lessons now!"

"_Master, you should rest first. You just woke up from your injuries._"

"Injures that healed," Naruto corrected. His gaze went down to the small message his friends wrote. 'Wake up already' sounds like he's been unconscious for quite a while. "Saber…please…I need to do this."

"…_Understood, Master. Please provide us with a battleground then._"

"A battleground, you say?"

Naruto sneaked out of the hospital perfectly. With the aid of Assassin, Naruto's escape became flawless. Even with the easy-to-spot Orange jumpsuit Naruto wore, no shinobi could spot him because he was slightly out of the shinobi's range of sight or sensory field. Naruto hid in alleyways, sprinted through the plaza, sneaked past the Hokage mansion, and reached his destination: Team seven's training ground.

"Is this a good place to learn, Saber-sensei?"

"Yes. This is adequate enough, Master." Saber replied as she materialized from thin air. Saber handed her Master a wooded sword, "Archer requested I go easy on you by using wooden swords. A shame really, I'd like to see you wield a proper blade rather than a toy." Naruto sweatdropped at Saber's remorseless statement, "But fundamentals are important… Master!"

Naruto stood straight in alert, his wooden sword positioned in front of him and poised to attack, "Yes?"

"Show me what you're capable of."

"Yes, Sensei!" Naruto complied, rushing forward to close the gap between him and her. Saber brought out a wooden sword as well and positioned herself to test her young Master.

Meanwhile, inside Naruto's head, Kyuubi was looking through Naruto's memories of pain, suffering, and loneliness...

'_**The reason I gave you my power…is because you survived. You persevered through the malice and hate, whereas I perished under the same conditions. Naruto…when you realize the truth, what would you think of me?**_"

_**And that's the end of this chapter. I hope you like it. **_

_**I've struggled giving Naruto a motive to accept his Servants. I can't just have him say, "SURE! I'M YOUR MASTER!" so easily. As you can see I have Naruto doubting the Kyuubi's generosity, but his conversation with Ruler does steer Naruto in the right direction somewhat.**_

_**Naruto is still naïve as you can see, but as time passes on, I will make him more serious when it comes to business. As in, if Sasuke doesn't change his ways, Naruto will kill him.**_

_**So once again, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Follow, favorite, review, I don't care. If you have problems, worries, or questions, review or PM, and I'll try to lessen your worries by trying to answer them without spoiling anything.**_

_**This is Azure with a second chapter, signing off.**_


	3. Chapter 3: Welcome to Konoha

_**Hello people to another chapter of Eiyu no Kage! I'm so pumped ever since I posted that last chapter, so let's start the party!**_

_**enoix27: Kyuubi shall be considered genderless until said so otherwise. **_

_**Nightwolf912: I'm pretty sure I said Archer is Shirou (died and did not regret his ideals), not EMIYA (died and regretted his ideals)**_

_**little puppy: Yes, Assassin is from Fate strange/fake. **_

_**coronadomontes: While I appreciate the reviews, I most likely won't understand them. I understand you like my story, but beyond that, I don't understand more of what you're saying.**_

_**Cid-McConroy: I really appreciate your review about how Naruto reacted. I was really struggling with how Naruto should act in that part. I really just couldn't have him accept his Servants so easily without giving him a motive to accept them. So I appreciate you telling me I did good with that particular part.**_

_**Disclaimer: first chapter**_

Chapter 3: Welcome to Konoha

Naruto charged at Saber with his wooden sword positioned beside him and was parallel to the ground. As soon as Naruto was within striking range, he screeched to a halt, bent his knees, and jumped up and conducted several front flips before making his sword make contact with sword. Saber angled her sword with the point directed to the ground. When Naruto hit the sword, his balance was thrown off and he went slinding and rolling across the ground.

"What was that…?" nNaruto asked Saber.

"That, Master, is a parry. A parry is when you misdirect an oncoming attack to counter. Just with that parry alone, you would have died ninety different ways." Saber's answer terrified Naruto, "In a battle of swords, it only takes one mistake to die. The faster and more skilled a warrior is able to fix his or her mistake, the better the chance of coming out of the clash with only a scratch." Naruto gulped. He remembered Zabuza, a missing-nin, a mercenary for hire with a sword as big as he was. The man was once renowned for his swordsmanship, and Naruto now knew the outcome of what could have happened if he made a mistake during the fight he had against him.

"One mistake… Well it's a good thing I won't be making any!" Naruto declared confidently. Saber narrowed her eyes before closing them. She smiled a bit. Confidence was nice and all, but to back up that confidence, skill is required.

"You already made a mistake with that first strike," Saber commented. Her Master chuckled embarrassingly, "But you didn't know about the consequences of mistakes in a duel of swords so…Hmm…quite the declaration, Master. Can you support your claim?" Saber asked as she took her stance once more.

The Master grinned and stood up, his energy showing as he jumped off the ground just to stand. He took his battle stance as well, similar to Saber's, "Ready, Saber?"

"Don't keep me waiting, Master."

In a burst of speed, Naruto closed the gap. The blonde Master gripped his sword tightly and swung upwards. Saber saw the attack and parried it to her left. After doing that, she stabbed the point of the sword right at where Naruto's sternum should be, "Dead," Saber declared, "You've already made a mistake, Master." Naruto frowned before stepping back several meters and went into position again.

Naruto, showing yet another display of speed, went in a zig-zag path. He was trying to confuse Saber. The blonde servant waited to counter rather than to intercept her Master. At the last juke, Naruto aimed to stab at Saber's right shoulder. The sword master parried once again, forcing Naruto's blade to the gorund. She moved her sword towards Naruto's unguarded neck and stopped there, "Dead."

Naruto jumped back, returning to his position. _She always parries… I need to make her block._ With the tiny idea sparked in his head, Naruto charged forward. He sprinted as fast as he could and aimed for an aerial, downward stroke. Saber anticipated the telegraphed move and blocked it. With Naruto's weight on his blade, Saber threw her Master over her shoulder.

_Now!_ Naruto, seeing a chance to strike, swung his blade at Saber's unguarded back. As soon as he thought he might land a hit, the intense swing of Saber's sword sends Naruto's sword careening into the ground. Naruto was in a state of shock. How'd she know he would aim for her back? There was no time to think, Naruto needed to act! He pulled back his sword and landed just outside striking range. Naruto twirled his body clockwise, bringing his sword arm up into an overhead, vertical slash that had his weight added to give extra power. His Servant finally blocked by making her sword parallel to the ground. There were no signs of misdirection; Naruto can strike again.

_Aim for the legs!_ Naruto thought to himself. He pulled back his sword and went for a diagonal slash. Saber stabbed her sword into the ground and lifted it up immediately as soon as Naruto's sword hit hers. With both swords poised over each swords/Wo/men, both brought their swords down into a clash. Both blondes reared theirs swords to return into striking position and were about to repeat the clash.

_Jump back, then strike!_ Naruto feinted, resulting in a defenseless Saber. He sprinted towards Saber with his sword positioned at his side to take her head. Saber smiled; her Master baited her into a defenseless attack, and he was reaping the benefits as best as he could. Too bad he won't get close to hitting her. Saber lifted her sword, parrying the oncoming blade. She noticed the look of shock on her Master's face, and she was amused by it. She brought her sword down on Naruto's left collarbone and-

_POOF! _Naruto turned into a cloud.

"What?" Saber asked, her shock registering in time to meet the wooden blade in front of her. The sword came from behind the cloud, so is Naruto behind there too? She slid her sword on the surface of her Master's sword and reached his abdomen.

_POOF!_ Again! Naruto turns into a cloud that hinders Saber's vision. She hears footsteps to her left and slashes.

_POOF!_ To the right, she slashes_._

_POOF!_ The ground cracks, and she jumps back to barely dodge the edge of Naruto's sword. Saber tightened her grip on her sword. She knew a new type of lesson to teach her Master: Honor between Swordsmen. She now took the offensive as she swung her sword down onto her Master. Naruto noticed Saber's charge and blocked it. He couldn't react fast enough when she pulled her sword back to go for his legs, then abdomen, "Dead," she aimed to Naruto's right shoulder, "Dead," stabbed at his stomach, "Dead," she went for his neck, "Dead," and a direct hit to the head, right in the middle, "DEAD!" Her Master fell backwards, unconscious from the final blow. She poked her Master, trying to check if he's faking it.

"I think I went too far…" Saber said to herself.

"_YOU THINK?!_" The other Servants asked incredulously.

Hours later, the sun peeked over the Horizon. It was time for the Hokage to work. The woman, blonde and looked to be in her thirties with a blue diamond on her forehead, is Tsunade. She is a buxom woman with desirable qualities men would drool over, yet her true age is in her fifties… She wears a white robe and a green jacket over it. She also wears a pair of dark blue pants and black heels. She placed an illusion to make herself look young, but even so, her combat abilities wavered slightly below her prime. She can turn Shinobi to mush mind you, but it would take a bit of effort in her part to turn the poor victim into mush.

Tsunade groaned. As she entered her office, she already saw the terror that was the meter-tall stack of paperwork. However, this meter-tall stack was not alone! Oh no, folks, there was not one, not two, not four, but six meter-tall stacks of paperwork in her office! How'd it come to this?

Procrastination and because she was getting drunk.

She sighed deeply, and looked over the stacks. They were already organized by topic: Economy, Shinobi, Contracts, Trade, Complaints and miscellany, and Naruto. Yes Naruto is sometimes so problematic that he gets his own stack of papers. Tsunade looked over the stack. Judging by the first page of a 75 page essay of why Naruto should be executed for his incompetence and usage of Kyuubi's Chakra, Tsunade wanted to burn it.

Wait…why think this over? Tsunade took Naruto's stack and used a fireball jutsu to burn the stack. With that problem done, she looked at the remains of what should be the ashes of the pile. When the smoke and cinder dissipate, she was terrified to see the intact stack of papers! She panicked and sent another fireball at it. It didn't burn. She did it again, but it was futile! "What's going on?! Why won't this stack burn?!" Tsunade hurried to her desk to see if a message was left on it.

_I'm sorry, Tsunade-sama, but you've left me no choice! I've asked Jiraiya-sama for help and placed every stack of paperwork with fire-retardant seals so you can't burn it! You can't shred it either, so don't even think about it! You can't even drown it! You can't run away, Tsunade-sama. Fulfill your duties!_

Tsunade slammed on her desk, "DAMN YOU, SHIZUNE!"

The door opened, "Tsunade-sama!" It was Shizune, Tsunade's apprentice. She has short, dark brown hair swept downwards and wears a dark purple robe and black heels.

"Shizune!" Tsunade roared, "You're going to pay for your insolence!"

"No time for that!" Shizune yelled at her Master, "Naruto's gone missing!"

"What?! Send out the Anbu and any available Shinobi! We need to find Naruto immediately," Tsunade ordered with haste. She worried for Naruto. If he's gone missing, then either he woke up and moved, or he was kidnapped.

"Hai, Tsunade-sama!" Shizune saluted before leaving to aid in the search.

Kakashi and Sakura didn't need to look too hard to find Naruto. Sakura had guessed Naruto might have gone to Team Seven's training ground to train his bottom off to get Sasuke back. When they did arrive, they saw Naruto holding a wooden sword and fighting a blonde swordswoman in a white kimono and black hakama pants.

"Dead!" The woman yelled. She pulled her sword away, and Naruto charged at the woman full force.

"Again!" He yelled as he charged. The woman parried upwards and sent the butt of her sword into Naruto's gut. The Shinobi keeled over and kneeled over. Not a second later did he feel a strong gust of wind hit his left cheek. He glanced over to see the wooden blade at his cheek.

"Dead," She declared.

Naruto quickly stood up, "Again!" He clashed against the woman. Sword meeting sword, Naruto seemed desperate to land a hit on a woman.

Naruto swung his sword horizontally, and Saber ducked. Naruto noticed he cut her ahoge, the stray strand on Saber's scalp. Immediately, Archer cringed. The man had experienced the hell Naruto would face, and there was no time to save him. Saber's white kimono turned black, her skin turned pale, and her stare became a glare; this is Saber Alter!

"**DEAD!**" Saber declared as she slammed the sword to Naruto's gut and launched him up into a tree. Naruto screamed and yelped in pain as he fell from branch to branch until he gave a quick, 'oof' when he landed on the ground. Sakura ran to Naruto's side, worried for his safety. She looked at his injuries. He already sported multiple bruises and cuts on his body. She suspected it's because of the woman.

She turned to the swordswoman and yelled, "Who are you and why are you hurting Naruto?" Kakashi stood next to Sakura, ready to strike if the need arises. He looked her over…

_Did her kimono turn white again?_

"Agh…darn it, Saber-sensei…you hit too hard," Naruto groaned as he tried to sit properly, "Sakura-chan, don't worry, she's a teacher."

Sakura turned to her teammate, "A teacher? What's she teaching you? The multiple ways your ass can be beaten?" The blonde shinobi chuckled in pain.

"Very funny, Sakura. She's teaching me how to wield a sword."

"When you just woke up? You needed to recover and look at you beating yourself up!"

"Ma'am. May I know your name?" kakashi asked as he ignored his bickering students. The woman bowed to Kakashi.

"I am Saber, Shinobi-san."

"Saber…like a sword?" Kakashi asked with a bit of wonder in his voice.

"Yes."

"My name is Kakashi Hatake and the girl is my student, Sakura Haruno, nice to meet you Saber-san. I'd like for you to come to the Hokage's office, if you don't mind. I think she'd like to have a nice chat with you."

"Of course, Kakashi-san. It's a pleasure to meet you and your student."

When Kakashi, Sakura, a badly beaten Naruto, and a triumphant Saber walked into Tsunade's office. They saw the woman furiously going through paper after paper to get the work over with. She didn't have any time for this stupid paperwork!

"Hokage-sama, we found Naruto." Kakashi said to the Hokage as he, Sakura, Naruto and Saber entered the room. The woman stopped going through her papers and shoved them aside to slam on her desk. Naruto stiffened to brace for the scolding and reprimanding he'd get.

Tsunade sighed deeply before yelled at Naruto, "YOU STUPID KID! YOU WERE IN A COMA FOR A MONTH AND THE FIRST THING YOU DO IS JUST GO SOMEWHERE! WHAT WAS SO IMPORTANT THAT YOU NEEDED TO LEAVE YOUR BED TO LOOK SO BRUISED?!" Naruto recoiled from Tsunade's yell while Saber didn't flinch at the volume.

So…two things: Naruto really was unconscious for a while, and Tsunade was royally pissed off. He wondered how Tsunade would take the news of him having nine warriors of the past staying in his head?

"I wanted to train." Naruto answered. Tsunade sighed. It was difficult handling Naruto sometimes really… "I wanted to get stronger so I can get Sasuke back!" Tsunade sighed again and inspected the stranger.

"And you are?" She asked Saber.

"Saber, Hokage-sama," answered Saber with a bow to accommodate the greeting, "I'm teaching Naruto how to wield a sword, or at least how to fight without getting hit. Obviously, he failed miserably." Naruto looked down to his bruises being healed by Kyuubi, "Though he failed, he has heart. And he was relentless in trying to get a hit on me. He has the heart of a lion, Hokage-sama." Tsunade smiled at the compliment aimed at her godson. Naruto was elated as well.

"So you had fun, I'm guessing, Naruto?"

"Of course!" Naruto answered excitedly, "Even though I got beaten to a pulp, I want to do that again! I plan on surpassing her to get to that hat of yours Baa-chan!" The Hokage smiled as she flared her Chakra.

"Jiraiya, come in here!" Tsunade ordered. In a poof of smoke, out came a spiky, white, long-haired man with a headband with kanji of 'Oil' etched on it. He wore a red, loose vest and dark green, long sleeved short kimono and pants. Underneath is a mesh shirt for protection, and on his back is a large scroll. This is Jiraiya, the Toad Sage.

"You called, Hime?"

"Seal the place up." Tsunade ordered.

"Right away!" Jiraiya complied.

Tsunade leaned onto her desk, elbows resting on it, and her hand intertwined together in front of her mouth, "So Saber-san. Tell me who you really are. It's strange for Naruto to find a master that quickly in such a small timeframe." Naruto stepped forward.

"Baa-chan, if you want to know about her, then you'll need to know about the others." Tsunade's interest peaked as her hands placed themselves on the desk.

"Others?"

"Everyone, come out," Naruto summoned his Servants to the real world. Eight golden pillars of light appeared to show Naruto's Servants kneeling. They stood up once the light faded, "Baa-chan, these people and Saber are my Servants. I'm their Master."

The Shinobi blinked rapidly, trying to comprehend what he said, and not surprisingly, they asked, "What?" in tandem. The blonde jinchuuriki cheekily smiled at the other Shinobis' confusion.

After the meet'n'greet and the backstory for what happened inside Naruto's head, Tsunade, Jiraiya, Kakashi, and Sakura were left gobsmacked and their mouths agape for far too long.

"S-So the Kyuubi gave you full mastery if you master your Servants?" Tsunade asked, still shocked by the news. Jiraiya merely ogled at the female Servants with a perverted stare, his gaze gravitating to the womens' assets. Tsunade tightend her fists, but restrained herself from hitting the perverted man; she needed to be professional in front of the strangers.

"Yup."

"I wouldn't mind 'Mastering' one of those Servants of yours, kid." Jiraiya let out a perverted chuckle. Immediately, Rider shot the floor, making Jiraiya dance, Alter kicked him upside the head, Ruler slammed the flat of her blade to the side of his head, and Assassin twisted his neck. He turned and fell on Tsunade's boobs. Tsunade picked him up and punched him away.

Sadly, Lancer was in the line of fire. He was swept away by Mach 1 bullet Jiraiya and landed to the other side of the Village.

"Ah…Lancer died…" Archer monotonously cried out.

"YOU AREN'T HUMAN!" The Servants and Naruto roared at Tsunade.

"They're fine," Tsunade dismissed the accusation with a wave of her hand, "As for this conversation, this is strictly between us. No one will know about Naruto's servants except us. Saber is only allowed to be seen because she is Naruto's current teacher. Understand?"

"Yes, Baa-chan!"

"Yes, Hokage-sama." Replied the Servants.

"Welcome to Konoha."

Omake: Alter is Hungry~

It was nighttime. Naruto was forced to recuperate after the merciless beating Saber gave. So now, every Servant was back in Naruto's mindscape, minding his or her own business, while Archer was fidgeting as much as Berserker, who's fidgeting became more intense upon seeing Saber's Alter form.

"Archer." Said man stiffened, "Come with me for a moment."

"Why…?" Archer cautiously asked.

"I'm hungry."

"Oh… well okay, let's get you something to eat then."

Something stirred within Saber when Alter was released after a long time. A desire sparked in her that needed to be drenched. She yanked Archer away from the other Servants and went to the more private sectors of the mindscape.

"Woah, woah! Saber? What're you doing?"

"Be quiet, Archer."

"Alter? Stop! Stop pulling my pants!" Archer's yells and shrieks of terror echoed across the sewage walls. Lancer looked terrified and Berserker stiffened at hearing the title, Alter. He too had seen his fair share of nightmares upon discovering Alter.

_**And so concludes chapter three. How do you like a sneak peek of Naruto's harsh training? Is it good, bad, something else? Obviously, I'm keeping the Servants except Saber secret from the public. **_

_**And a moment of silence for Lancer… he's not dead just badly wounded.**_

_**So follow, favorite, review, I don't care. I've been working on this the whole day with a party going on downstairs. I'm surprised I got this done!**_

_**This is Azure, signing off!**_


	4. Chapter 4: The Weight of a Sword

_**Hey, folks. Time for another chapter. School started the 25**__**th**__**, and I'm already doing homework. I already feel the pressure of being a senior. **_

_**Other than that, I got 1.25k views on the day chapter 3 came out. Best personal record so far for me (Wohoo~!) and I got 106 favorites and 114 follows from three chapters! This makes this story my best one so far! Thanks for the support guys!**_

_**Kinunatz: Yes, Naruto already has Magic Circuits, he hasn't used them yet for Magecraft as he has Chakra as an alternative. While the era of Magi is done, the Magic Cicuits, Od, Prana, etc. didn't disappear. It's just dormant within people around the world. He will use Chakra and Prana to use his Servant's abilities, but the use of Magic Circuits will be at a later time. Until he can use his Magic Circuits and Prana, Chakra will fuel his Servants. **_

_**It will be explained better in the chapter where Naruto is introduced to Prana, Od, Mana, and such.**_

_**Disclaimer: first chapter**_

Chapter 4: The Weight of a Sword

It's noon and had been two days since Naruto woke up from his month-long coma. The boy professionally hid himself from the public and his friends as he trained with Saber continuously in Team seven's training ground. Apparently, Kakashi and Saber saw improvement skyrocket as he found ways to get around a parry and trained his muscles to be faster to make faster strikes.

In the Hokage Mansion, the largest building of the Village, Tsunade was sitting still in her seat as she just heard the news about the Akatsuki, an organization that wanted the Biju inside Jinchurikis, from Jiraiya yesterday. In other, simpler words, Naruto is in danger. As the way things are, Naruto staying here will only hinder his progress; villagers are calling for his head. They are accusing the boy of being the reason Sasuke left, the reason the Uchiha died (which wasn't that far off), and that he should die for accessing the Kyuubi's Chakra. The fear of Kyuubi corrupting Naruto was a tale already spread around since the boy's birth, but the actual use of the Biju's Chakra set the villagers off into rage and panic.

How did the villagers even know of the boy's use of Kyuubi's Chakra? The Hokage had only one possible answer: the Civilian Council.

Mission debriefings, while are Shinobi matters at heart, they are also recited to the Council, both the Civilian and Shinobi sides. Kakashi, despite being seemingly lazy, was detail-oriented when it came to mission debriefings. When Tsunade heard the part where Kakashi felt the Kyuubi's Chakra being used, she saw the predatory glares and vicious sneers the Civilian Council had. Tsunade only suspected that it was through the Civilian Council's treasonous action that the villagers know about Naruto's use of the Biju's Chakra.

Naruto needed to be out of the village fast! It would only be a matter of time until the villagers find out the boy is now conscious and would riot for his head. She had only one option, "Jiraiya!" she yelled. The wandering Sannin entered her office via window and looked at the Hokage.

"Hey, Hime. What do you need?"

"Take him on a training trip." Tsunade ordered rather than answered.

"When?" The Toad Sage queried.

"By noontime tomorrow."

"So soon? Tsunade, he just woke up. He should have some time for his friends," Jiraiya persuaded, "He needs to stay here for a bit; he may show that he's happy, but inside he's hurting. He thinks it's his fault Sasuke left."

"And so do the villagers and the Civilian Council," Tsunade snapped back at her teammate with venom in her tone by the mere mention of the corrupt Civilian Council.

Jiraiya sighed, reluctantly agreeing to Tsunade's order; she won't change her mind anytime soon. "Shouldn't he be here to hear this?" Jiraiya asked his teammate while scratching the back of his head.

"He'll know about it from you." Tsunade answered, totally avoiding responsibility, "Besides, you're his master, you have the responsibility of telling him."

Meanwhile, at Team seven's training ground, Naruto maneuvered out of harm's way as he ducked under Saber's horizontal slash aimed at his side. Saber pointed her sword at the rising trainee and thrusts the wooden blade. Naruto twists his body just enough to marginally dodge the sword. The whiskered blonde grinned; he made Saber defenseless and open for a counterattack. Swinging his sword as fast as he could, Naruto saw Saber not attempting to dodge. Saber waited, and while Naruto's swing looked incredibly fast for a trainee, it was still too slow for Saber. At the last moment, Saber turned and tilted her head to the right and lowered her body while it also turned to the right. She was utilizing the momentum of her turning to swing her sword as powerful as she could muster along with her arm strength. Naruto, during the two/ three days of training had adjust to his swordmaster's speed, and while he could clearly see the blade going for his gut once again, he couldn't react fast enough.

Saber completed the rotation. Her head was by Naruto's side and her sword reaching her Master's gut. With a step, she anchored herself. The sword met her Master's flesh, and with her right foot anchoring her, she used her momentum and arm strength to spin Naruto an ungodly amount of times as he flew forward and rolled away once he hit the ground.

"Dead," Saber stated calmly. She ignored her Master's moans and complaints of pain. Kakashi looked at the scene and chuckled slightly. Sakura on the other hand recoiled and hypothesized how painful that blow could have been. All the while, Tenten, Ino, and Hinata were spying from the trees surrounding the open area.

The three girls had heard from the Hokage that Naruto had woken up. They were also told that he already started training in Team seven's training ground. What the Hokage didn't say was that Naruto had taken an interest in swordplay, nor did she say that Naruto also has a strict, powerful, and flawlessly skilled master of swordplay.

Naruto, still groaning, stood up with a bit of difficultly, "Saber-sensei…can we take a break? I'm hungry."

"Of course, Naruto." Saber answered. After that conversation with Tsunade, Naruto had figured that Saber should get comfortable speaking her Master's name, or people would look at her strangely. Thankfully, she obeyed and fulfilled the order as soon as Naruto said that, "Where would you like to eat?"

The young Master's gleaming smile told everything in Kakashi's and Sakura's eyes. It was even painfully obvious to the hiding trio in the trees. Naruto had an insatiable craving for Ichiraku Ramen.

"How about you guys?" Naruto asked Kakashi and Sakura.

"Sure," Answered the other two members of Team seven.

Naruto turned to the trees, where the Kunoichi trio were hiding, "How about you, girls? You coming?" Naruto asked them with a smile on his face, "I think I have enough to feed everyone here a bowl…how about it?"

The hiding girls were certainly shocked to be spotted. Naruto never showed such aptitude in paying attention to his surroundings…heck, he didn't even pay mind to using weapons other than shuriken or kunai in a fight! Who the heck is this new Naruto? Tenten was surely interested, while Ino didn't know what to think about the improved Shinobi. Hinata on the other hand still had a crush on the blonde Shinobi. The girls jumped off their perch and landed in front of the remnant of Team seven and the swordmaster.

Tenten spoke first, "Sure, I'll take that offer," She smiled as she agreed to the treat. The weapons mistress poised her hands just above her waist, where her hips were starting to show the curvature of her body.

Ino patted her stomach, "I do need some food inside me. You got yourself a deal, Naruto."

Hinata lowered her hear and played with the indexes of her fingers, "U-Um…I'll go, Naruto-kun…" Her voice, low and meek, showed her unnaturally high level of shyness expressed by any single individual.

"Heh…So what're we waiting for? Let's go!" The blonde boy cheered loudly before sprinting off into the general area of Ichiraku Ramen stand. The remaining Shinobi and Kunoichis gave a synchronized, collective sigh; Naruto, even though he has improved at least a tiny bit, still acts so juvenile when it came to his favorite food in the world.

Inside Naruto's mindscape, the resident sword wielders were conversing with each other. They were trying to figure out Naruto's strengths and his weaknesses while wielding a sword.

"He's quick," Archer commented, "Slow reaction time, though." Berserker and Ruler nodded in agreement. Despite not learning the way of the blade, their Master is only subpar to a normal Knight's swing speed.

"Technique is also lacking," Ruler stated, "Though I have no doubt Saber can teach our Master properly. The King of Knights should be able handle our budding Master."

"Bud…ding? MAster?" Beserker asked believingly, "Mas…ter is groWING! Claws!" The Black Knight cheered loudly.

"Berserker, if thou can't give substantial criticism or advise, I suggest thou to keep thy unruly mouth shut for the rest of this conversation."

"Master is quite spry with his unconventional attacks." Assassin praised. Berserker agreed, nodding at her statement.

"Master… Sh!..Ows…exCEPTional USE! Of tactics. NO one…would! Be ABLE…to GUess!" Berserker finally contributed to the conversation, and Ruler had to agree. Their Master's mind would try to get his body to move to the tactic he would conjure up. While there were plans that almost seemed flawless, they were better than the average Knight would be able to think of in the middle of battle.

"Why is Saber teaching Master the unconventional way? Shouldn't she be teaching Master proper techniques and stances? Why hath she forgone fundamentals? I'd thought a crash course into swordplay was something she was beyond her ability to teach?"

Archer thought about Ruler's questions deeply. True, Saber would be the type to prioritize fundamentals over sparring any day… "Maybe…" Archer started, "Maybe she's testing him. You've seen Master's swings and movement. They look rough around the edges, but to him, it seemed natural; he moved like water when he would dodge some of Saber's hits," Archer turned to the Chakra beast inside the cage next to the conversing trio, "Kyuubi-san, do you have any idea why Master moves so proficiently despite learning for only three days?"

"**No,**" Kyuubi answered, "**I have no idea how he has improved so much with an impromptu training method. However, I can say that Saber is still testing him.**"

"Still?" Ruler repeated curiously, "Why wouldst she do that? She should hath seen Master's strength's and weaknesses by now."

"**The brat is constantly learning,**" Kyuubi replied, "**Saber can't keep up with the kid's rapid progress and quick thinking. While she can still win, Saber is seeing the skill gap between her and the kid dwindle to an extent because of the kid's battle instincts. You could see that when he almost caught Saber off guard, correct?**"

"That is true…" Archer agreed. Naruto's progress was far too fast for any trainee could accomplish. Not even talent could even hope to explain the sheer speed of Naruto's increasing skill with a blade in terms of tactics and swordplay, "I guess Saber can't properly gauge Master's skill because of the speed."

"It could be an innate skill?" Ruler suggested. Kyuubi thought for a moment and inspected the seal. It focused on that tiny speck of foreign Chakra inside; it was one of two, and one was fluctuating itself quite abnormally for the duration of the battle between Naruto and Saber.

'_**Could it be?**_' Kyuubi suspected the answer, but conclusive evidence was nigh impossible with only a fluctuating foreign Chakra as evidence for an answer.

Outside in the real world, Sakura walked side by side with Naruto as she and the others walked to Ichiraku Ramen. While she looked happy on the outside, she felt morbid on the inside. The secret that was revealed inside the Hokage's office was something she didn't expect from the resident prankster of Konoha.

Naruto was the Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, the same beast that destroyed almost half the village thirteen years ago on October tenth…

Then it clicked! That was Naruto's birthday.

The more Sakura thought about it, the more she became baffled at how much she didn't know Naruto. She didn't know how hard Naruto had it as a child, she didn't know how Naruto mustered up a smile everyday, she didn't know how he could live without parents, and she surely didn't know how Naruto felt being alone for the first few years of life. While she knew his likes and dislikes, she didn't know his true feelings- his mentality. It surely explained why he wanted to be Hokage in the first place: to be recognized rather than ignored as a monster.

Admittedly, her mother had told her to stay away from Naruto. She didn't call Naruto a monster or anything, just a 'problem child.' And like any child should, she followed her mother's orders. Sakura was ashamed of her actions. She decided she'd redeem herself by becoming a better teammate.

"So Naruto…when did you get into using swords?" Tenten turned, walking in reverse to look at him and asked the blonde Jinchuriki, "You were all for taijutsu rather than kenjutsu if I remember correctly…" Naruto chuckled nervously, his pace slowing just slightly to be barely noticeable. Ino jumped into the conversation as well, tackling the boy by his back.

"Yeah! Since when did you take interest in swords?" Hinata nodded shyly, wanting to know how her crush had taken an interest in a less desirable aspect of a Shinobi compared to taijutsu or ninjutsu.

"I don't know…I just wanted to learn a way to get stronger. Saber-sensei is giving me that chance."

Saber presented herself into the conversation, "I found Naruto here punching and kicking a tree in various ways and just leaving bruises on his body. He lacked finesse…so I decided to teach him how to use a sword," she patted Naruto's back to strengthen the lie she presented to the girls. Kakashi noted that it was quite a believable lie, and he might've fallen for it had he not known the truth.

Ino smiled, "Well look how lucky you are Naruto. You got yourself a teacher out of pity." Naruto frowned and pointed his tongue at the platinum blonde Kunoichi snickering, "Oh lighten up, Fishcake. It didn't hurt did it?" The boy in question grumbled as the group reached the Ramen stand.

As Naruto entered, he yelled, "Teuchi-jiji! A bowl for everyone! On me!" The stand owner heard his voice and went on to create the orders quickly. The man was glad his favorite customer was back, and with friends too. Teuchi metally cheered because it was more money in his pocket and a full stomach for his customers; a win-win situation in his book.

"Coming right up, Naruto!"

From a distance, Jiraiya saw Naruto's face of glee, and he couldn't help but feel disheartened by giving the boy bad news. Leaving the village and his friends after waking up three days of leaving a month-long coma would devastate the boy. There was still time. He has until tomorrow to leave; plenty of time to create a proper farewell party (Sorta kinda). Jiraiya disappeared into the crowd to meet his disciple's friends to tell them about his plans for a farewell.

Several hours later, Naruto was back in Training Ground seven, meditating in front of the river the area has. Saber had told him to meditate for a while because she had a test for him to take. What the test is about, Naruto was extremely curious to find out. So he followed Saber's order to meditate. He sat cross-legged, his hands intertwined by his stomach, and closed his eyes to focus and clear his mind.

It worked…for the first half a minute. Naruto couldn't stand waiting. A dynamic individual like himself can't hope to ever meditate properly for an indefinite amount of time, and it doesn't help that he's far too curious and excited to keep himself composed. He tried calming his mind again, and it successfully ceased his incessant jittering.

He focused on the flow of his Chakra. He felt it flow throughout his body in a constant and rapid flow. It flowed to his limbs, to his head, and even to his heart; however, there were more subtle places where he felt is Chakra flow. Around his arms and back, he could feel his Chakra siphoning off from what seemed to be underdeveloped Chakra pathways. He tried pushing Chakra to these underdeveloped pathways and strained under the stress of forcibly opening a pathway for those strange anomalies within his pathways. And as soon as he almost succeeded in forging a pathway for the incomplete Chakra pathways, Saber cut his concentration off.

"Master," She called out to Naruto, "I've prepared your test. Follow me please." Naruto stood up and followed his Servant to a small forest clearing by the river. In the middle of the clearing was a beautiful ornamented sword. Gleaming silver steel shone alabaster white under the moon's rays. The blue and gold design on the blade and its cross hilt gave the true impression of royalty.

"What is that sword?" Naruto asked Saber as he stared at the beautifully crafted blade set in stone.

"That is Caliburn, Master," Saber responded, "My first sword and the sword that started my legend." Naruto noticed the sad tone in her calm voice, but he chose to not pursue that conversation and chose to focus on the sword, "I want you to pull it out of the stone."

"Huh? Pull it?" Naruto turned to look at his teacher with a disbelieving look, "Really? I waited to pull a sword from a stone?"

"Master, what do you think a sword is?" Saber asked seriously.

"Huh?"

"Just pull Caliburn from the stone."

Without any hesitation, Naruto pulled at Caliburn's hilt. It didn't budge one tiny bit, not a millimeter off from its position. Naruto pulled again, with greater force. He still couldn't move Caliburn from its rocky sheath.

"Why? Why won't it budge?"

"The sword doesn't see you as capable of being King." Saber answered bluntly.

"King?"

"A Hokage in more relative terms," Saber explained properly, "It doesn't think you deserve the title of a leader, not with your mindset at least."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked, truthfully curious about his mindset is at the moment.

"It means, that you are not ready to make sacrifices for the greater good. A leader has to make sacrifices that benefit his people. You not wanting to kill Sasuke is a good reason for that. He is a traitor to your village, yet you pester on about convincing him to come back to a village that will punish him for his actions!"

"But I can tell my side of the story and they'd have to believe that he'd change!" Naruto vainly reasoned with the slightly angered Saber, "He's a Shinobi our village prides in!"

"FOOL!" Saber's authoritary voice boomed across the training ground, "You can't expect a person to change just from one fight! It's gradual; the kind of scenario you are saying is but a fool's dream! A sword is not just some fancy decoration swordsmen have on their persons. It's a tool of death! You cannot handle Caliburn for you are not yet ready to take a life! A sword is meant to end a life, and Caliburn sees that you are far too restrained to kill even in a profession that specializes in killing."

"But-"

"And to add on from your statement…he is a Shinobi your village prides in? Really, Master? They pride themselves on a traitor? What are you telling me? That this village is a village of traitors? What blasphemy are you talking about?" Saber ranted angrily at her Master, who kept taking a step back from her booming voice, "You need to see reality, Master. You cannot expect a crime to be punished with a slap of the wrist; especially not a traitor!"

"No! I can't do that!" Naruto answered, desperately denying the task to kill Sasuke if necessary, "I just can't do that!"

"Why not?" Saber roared, "What other reason could validate you to not kill a traitor?"

"Because Sasuke is a friend! And as a friend, I won't kill him for such a reason like that! And besides, you don't know Sasuke like I do!"

"Oh? And what do I not know about Sasuke?" Saber asked, purposefully egging her Master into a corner, "What is so redeeming about your revenge-obsessed friend, who impaled his left hand into your heart, and left the village for power?"

"…" Naruto wordlessly muttered underneath his breath. Saber leaned forward, trying to hear her Master's answer.

"Hmm…?"

"Sasuke acknowledged me! That's why I don't want to kill him. He saw that even in my lackluster skills as a Shinobi, that I was a person that he could go toe-to-toe with. He was the first person my age to see me as a person and not some piece of crap on the ground! So sorry if I don't want to kill a person that saw _me_ as a person!"

Archer could feel the conflict within Naruto's heart shake the very foundations of his ideals. The fact that his Master will have to accept the fact that Sasuke might die by his Master's hands in the future just silenced Archer as he listened to the conversation along with the other Servants. Ruler, Lancer, and the rest except for Berserker were just like Archer, and felt the pain Naruto experienced.

Berserker was moved despite his Master's hesitance to cut down a traitor, his Master's friend. Such powerful one-sided loyalty to a friend that nearly killed him deserves some kind of twisted praise at least. Naruto truly had the heart of a knight even if he isn't fit for a crown right now.

"I can't do that, Saber! I can't!" Naruto cried as tears burst forth, "I won't kill Sasuke…I won't…I won't do it!" Naruto ran from the clearing and headed to an unknown destination. What he did know was that the burden of a sword was indeed heavy…and that he was not prepared to wield one until he could accept reality.

In another place, Sasuke stood in a golden theater filled with red roses and red banners. Various floors could be seen were many spectators could watch a play of some sort unfold. He held in his hands a wooden sword that he repeatedly swung methodically to train his muscles. On his left shoulder, a red marking of a fireball surrounded in lightning glowed through his blue shirt.

"Master, are you ready for your next spar?" a feminine voice asked from behind.

With a deep breath, Sasuke turned to the owner of the voice, "Yes, Saber. I'm ready."

_**And that's it folks. What do you think? I honestly don't know what to think about this chapter. I'm just putting Naruto in an emotional rollercoaster aren't I?And I'm also testing his ideals too. Dammit, I'm just making more plot come off instead of fighting! I wanna get to a big fight!**_

_**Oh! And Sasuke gets a Servant too because Indra reincarnation stuff…or something like that. Sage's blessing and…yeah.**_

_**Besides that, I hoped you enjoyed this chapter. Review, follow, favorite, I don't care. **_

_**This is Azure, signing off…**_


	5. Chapter 4:5: Chance

_**Hey guys! I can see Sasuke hate brewing for the right reasons that he should not be able to have a Servant. While they are right reasons to not have Sasuke have a Servant, I feel that you haters are doing it out of spite for the guy, and I can't have that. What I write is for a reason, and Sasuke having a Servant has a reason you complainers have no patience for! So all of you that blatantly get pissed off about that, here's the explanation you wanted! If you hate the explanation, then you can ignore this fic in the future, I don't care. **_

_**Because giving Sasuke something is SO controversial for the Naruto world. **_

_**So B3ND3R, NyaNyaKittyFace, you two and any other potential uber Sasuke haters reading this either accept the explanation and DEAL WITH IT, or you can run along to some other OP, GOD-LIKE Naruto nuking Konoha and Curb-stomping Emo-Prince of Darkness because this is MY STORY! MY PLOT! You can't change anything about it except me! I know what will happen, not you, nor anyone else except for my Co-creator Element-Overlord and reviewer Hakel Fury, who also dislikes Sasuke, but pointed out a huge plot hole that is going to be answered in THIS chapter! He didn't let bias get in the way and so he got a basic overview of how Sasuke got the ability to summon a Servant and how he'll be in the story.**_

_**This chapter will answer questions about Sasuke. You hate the answers, I don't care what you do.**_

_**Really, I'm even doing you a favor because I could have just made chapter 5 and say-**_

"_**I gave Sasuke a Servant because…FUCK YOU that's why!" But no, I'm being generous and giving you this chapter to find out answers.**_

_**Hah… that's the end of it.**_

_**enoix27: Sakura will not be in the harem.**_

_**gunslayer12: No it's not bad that you don't know the others. One of the rewards for mastering a Servant was that Naruto learns the Servant's true identity and story. So if you don't know them, then you'll find out if you haven't researched them already.**_

_**Xelos007: I'm sorry, but I think I'll keep the Old English on, but I'll point out her accent and place some Old French words in there to cement her French identity.**_

_**blackrabbityesitblackrabbit: Let me ask you a question, "Do you really want to delay Archer's GAR chant and Naruto not emulating said GAR chant?"**_

_**Hakel Fury: Once again I thank you for telling me of the plot hole.**_

_**Absimilard: Thanks for understanding what I'm trying to do. Insta-personality change is something I'm not trying to do.**_

_**ariboku34: Sasuke will only have one Servant, Saber. So don't worry about him having more.**_

_**So time to introduce you to chapter 4.5: Why Emo-Prince gets the same toy as Memetic Sex-god Naruto!**_

_**Disclaimer: First chapter**_

Chapter 4.5: Chance

Sasuke lay on his bed. It had been a month since that fight between Naruto and him. He'd reached Orochimaru's hideout and trained with the Sannin almost immediately. He'd been learning the way of the sword through the use of a chokuto, a straight, single edged blade. He'd been adamant in learning kenjutsu in order to trump his older brother when the showdown would come. Today was a successful day of training to him, and he would prepare for the next session tomorrow. He closed his eyes and would not expect a scene all too familiar with him.

The Uchiha compound, his home, his empty and lifeless home filled his vision. Why of all places did he have to think about _this _nightmarish place?! The place where he lost his innocence, the place where vengeance took root in his mind, the place where he felt no love for his older brother, the place where everything he loved died! Why did he see this place again?! Sasuke was panicking, reliving the memories that the illusory technique Tsukuyomi implanted in his head. The lives Itachi took that day seared into Sasuke's brain to torture him every sleeping moment of his life! Yet it somehow went away months ago; Sasuke didn't mind. He was done with those nightmares comstantly plaguing his mind. So why did it come back?

Frustrated and angered by this, Sasuke stomped the same path he used to get to his home, and as he walked the empty streets of the compund, he felt the shrill screams of dying Uchiha clan members being pierced by Itachi's sword. The young Uchiha cradled his head from the pain of hearing those voices echoing in his head. It went on for a while as he walked, and when it stopped, he felt a presence behind him. Quickly, he turned around to see an electricpost seemingly holding the full moon. There was no one there… The raven-haired boy turned around, following the path to his home once more.

Meanwhile at the electricpost was the floating old Sage looking down on the boy with contempt for what he has done to himself. The Sage sighed; Indra, his eldest son had his incarnation within the boy walking away. The Uchiha always bore Indra's incarnation and they always had the biggest clash between the incarnations of Asura, his youngest son, who incarnated themselves to the Senju clan.

It is a long and unrivaled conflict that has transpired multiple generations. Indra, the one born with the Sage's powers was the stronger one out of the two. Asura, the one not born with the Sage's talents or gifts and the ultimately the weakest between him and his brother had been his successor. Asura followed the teaching his father had about connecting with others due to being weak at the start. Indra didn't see the need in the help of others and was secluded and in turn ignored the purpose of ninshuu, to connect with others with to deepen bonds, understanding, and so forth.

As the Sage looked at Indra's incarnation, he saw how corrupted his line had become. Stooping so low as to actually use a cursed mark from an equally cursed and corrupted fool made the Sage look at him in disdain. Though the boy cannot be blamed for most of the fault. The boy's elder brother was confusing and not blunt. The Sage relived Sasuke's horrific memory and saw fault in Itachi's way of making Sasuke fight for the village and revive the clan in a better stature. Had he said that from the beginning, Sasuke would not have become a power-hungry maggot crawling to any source capable of giving him power! Even Madara had a line he'd never cross: to seek corrupted power he could use.

The Sage had enough. After seeing the Uzumaki, Asura's incarnation, he needed to end his age-old conflict between brothers now! Hashirama and Madara's battle and the battles generations before them had made the Sage angry. As a father, he must stop this madness, or else it will create another bloody conflict! Subtly. Either he changes through the interactions of his Servant or he dies by Naruto's blade. He will not interfere any more than giving him the mark of a Master.

"Sasuke Uchiha… I will give you the chance to redeem yourself. Naruto Uzumaki is naïve, and he'll give you all the chances you need, but in the end, even the most kindhearted individuals must learn to enact a cruel action they don't want to do. But will you have learned to go to the right path by then?" The Sage said these words aloud because he can't be heard.

Sasuke stood before the doors of his home. Only now did he notice how pristine the compound was compared to the way it was during the massacre. Something was strange about it all, and it gave a very foreboding feeling. He opened the door and went to the room that his parents died in. Right in front of his feet was a note.

_If you wish to gain a power stronger than your own, open the door, read the words written behind this letter, and drop a bit of your blood after. Be warned, if you hesitate, the powers bestowed upon you will be wiped away like nothing._

Sasuke scoffed at the empty threat, and opened the door without hesitation. Without any warning, Sasuke saw the familiar scene of his parents, and Itachi just behind them in the shadows. What's more, it looked almost exactly the same, perspective wise. It clocked to look at himself, and saw himself as an Academy student again! Sasuke panicked, he was fully immersed in this illusion, this nightmare, this horrific event that had no right, no place to invade in his mind!

The Sage chuckled lightly. He didn't expect the boy to be _that_ foolish, but there are exceptions. He waited to see if the boy would back out from this event. Though with the way he acts, he did not doubt Sasuke could handle the stress of reliving the event once more.

Sasuke struggled; the memories of that day resurfaced and surged like a tsunami slamming into his face full force. He took the brunt of the memory overload and the traumatic experience with it. He cradled his head once more to ease the pain he felt, yet the visions, the death won't stop! Just when Itachi was about to swing his sword against his parents did Sasuke finally snap.

"No! Stop it!" Sasuke yelled as he charged at Sasuke with chokuto in hand. He swung the sword with all his might and passed through him and his parents. His chokuto however, did not pass something. It clanked when it met his sword. With his vision clearing up, he saw a magnificent, red long sword stabbed into the ground. Sasuke stepped back a bit, and wondered what was special about this sword. Was this the power the letter had talked about? The Uchiha took notice of the letter again and flipped it over; the words were like a chant of some sort. Sounded strange, but Shinobi say the name of their attacks all the time so this makes a bit of sense. He recited the words.

_**Let silver and steel be the essence.**_

_**Let stone and the archduke of contracts be the foundation.**_

_**Let red be the color I pay tribute to.**_

_**Let rise a wall against the wind that shall fall.**_

_**Let the four cardinal gates close.**_

_**Let the three-forked road from the crown reaching unto the Kingdom rotate.**_

_**Let it be filled. Again. Again. Again. Again.**_

_**Let it be filled fivefold for every turn, simply breaking asunder with every filling.**_

_**Let my will create thy body and thy sword create my fate.**_

_**If thou dost accede to this will and reason, answer me!**_

_**I hereby swear,**_

_**I shall be a being worthy of your power,**_

_**I shall be the one to control thy power.**_

_**Thou clad with the Great Trinity,**_

_**Come forth from the circle of restraint,**_

_**Guardian of the Heavenly scales!**_

Sasuke pierced the skin inside his left palm and dropped a bit of blood. The area surrounding the sword glowed red in a circular pattern. He noticed a glow emanating on his left shoulder too. Something was happening, but what is it? A summoning perhaps? He didn't have to wait for an answer because the glowing intensified so much that it blinded his eyes momentarily. When the glowing stopped, he saw a blonde woman in red clothing and golden, flamboyant armor wielding the sword before him. In more detail, she wore a golden crown on her head and a giant, red ribbon held together her bun behind her head. Red cloth covered her neck and right arm and her skirt of the same color flared like a rose, which opened up to show her legs covered by strips of leather topped by gold trims. The hip armors were fabulously crafted to show the gaudy sense of style and show her status as nobility of some sort. Going up, her abdomen was covered in the same leather, yet her bust wasn't. Instead gold armor in the shape of bras covered them. Black stockings covered her legs, and golden greaves added protection for the woman. Her delicate hands were covered in leather gloves accented by gold yet again.

Sasuke was beginning to think this woman was some stingy noble because of all the gold on her. She had that aura of superiority on her too to add to that noble look she giving off.

"Hmm…" The woman hummed as she inspected her surroundings, "What a depressing place. Tell me, boy, are you my Master?" Her gaze calculated Sasuke, who at the moment was confused. Master? He was extremely confused. Why was he being called, "Master" of all things?

Then again, the way the woman was posing, she knew how to hold that sword. Is this what the note meant about gaining power? He had doubts, but he'd put them to the test.

An Uchiha only deserves the best after all…

"If I say yes? Then what would you offer me, Servant?" Sasuke asked haughtily, "You think you can give something worthwhile, something good?" His voice raised and turned into more of a mocking tone rather than a questioning one. "I need power to kill someone, can you give me the power I need?"

The woman scoffed, "Hmph! You must be kidding if you don't think I can't give you the power you need. Master, I am Saber, a master of the sword. If I can't make a swordmaster out of you, then I don't know what will." Sasuke grinned, a swordmaster, just perfect for what he's learning right now.

"Well then, _Sensei_," Sasuke joked in mocking fashion, "Teach me your ways…"

The Sage looked at the boy with contempt. He would wait by the judgement of Asura's incarnation. If Sasuke dies not changing, then he is truly a lost cause. If he does manage to change, then all is well, and the rivalry between his sons shall hopefully cease.

_**So that is that. Like the answer, hate it, not my problem. If you hate Sasuke for having such a toy, then make your own version that many other cliché writers will portray Sasuke as and have him get killed by Naruto with a bijudama! I've grown tired of the extremely layered bashing for Sasuke and I will not have it enter my story like that. **_

_**Until next time, this is Azure signing off…**_


	6. Chapter 5: Regrets

_**Hello readers to another chapter for this fic. I warn you there is more emotional baggage going on here, and I promise the action will come in soon. I have to just put in these expository chapters to show that change of personality in the naïve Naruto. It's cumbersome, I admit, but refuse to give up and just make Naruto OOC! **_

_**Special thanks to Element-Overlord for splitting the workload and doing part of the chapter.**_

_**Disclaimer: first chapter**_

Chapter 5: Regrets

In the Council room, the Shinobi and Civilian sides furiously battled over quite the stirring and controversial conflict. Tsunade dutifully listened to both sides of the argument, yet she knew the Civilian Council's insistence that the renegade Uchiha be exempt from any form of crime is beyond what the Hokage would allow. Sasuke Uchiha is a traitor, no more, no less!

"I've had enough of this farce! This topic is now under Shinobi jurisdiction as it should be since the start. I allowed this debate to start to see if you have any bit of sense, but it seems you are all lost causes." Tsunade's authoritative voice silenced the Civilians, "Sasuke Uchiha is a traitor, charged for treason, military desertion, attempted murder of a fellow Shinobi, and criminal aid from a fugitive! These charges stacked together could send the boy to his death!"

The Civilian council, alerted by the threat of the last Uchiha's possible death sentence, stood up with an uproar of refusals. They really did not like the sound of the Uchiha dying.

"SILENCE!" Boomed Tsunade, "This is now under Shinobi jurisdiction! YOU CANNOT PERSUADE ME TO DO ANYTHING PLEASANT REGARDING THE UCHIHA!"

Danzo, a heavily bandaged man, stood up, "Are you implying that the Uchiha should die, Tsunade?"

"That's Hokage to you, Danzo. And by all accounts, Sasuke, if captured should be executed when he returns."

"But what of the Uchiha bloodline?!" Danzo and the other Elders complained to the leader of the village. Bloodlines were coveted by the village; the Uchiha bloodline, the Sharingan, the ocular bloodline able to copy movements, raise perception, and copy jutsus, is the most coveted of all bloodlines.

It is the pride of Konoha, and it is now nearly extinct with both remaining members as traitors.

"The Uchiha clan is dead. Live with that fact." Hiashi Hyuuga, the clan head of the Hyuuga clan said to the Civilian council, "You spoiled a flight-risk Shinobi, an Uchiha at that, and look at your final product, you made another Madara…"

"Such insolence coming from you, Hiashi-san. Speaking that name here..." Koharu, one of the Elders commented harshly, "Your statements can be considered useless for your clan had a rivalry with the Uchihas."

"The Uchiha pup is gone, deserted his village for his quest of power. He will find no love in his home, with the clans. For his misdeeds, he must be punished for his heinous crimes! He is just a criminal now!" Tsume Inuzuka proclaimed. Her spiky hair and feral look amplified the ferocity in her words.

"I agree with Hiashi and Tsume." Shibi Aburame, a bespectacled man with a high-collar cloak spoke, "For the Uchiha's crimes, it is only logical that the boy must be punished. Whether through death or prison time, it is up to the Hokage."

"I speak for the Akimichis, the Naras, and the Yamanakas when I say that Sasuke Uchiha should be punished harshly." Shikaku Nara suggested, "However, we too choose for the Hokage to choose the boy's punishment when he is captured."

"You speak as if Sasuke's capture is set in stone, Shikaku." Homura, the last Elder in the Council stated cautiously, "What makes you so sure the boy will be apprehended in the future?"

Shikaku answered, "The next generation is motivated, Elder Homura."

"Motivated?"

"They are eager to put the Uchiha in his place. If you don't what I mean, then I'll clarify. The next generation want Sasuke Uchiha in bars." The Nara clan head, whose son looked much like him held a composed face, "Only you, Civilian council, want the Uchiha and not in the criminal type of way."

Seeing that the topic was lost, Danzo opted for yet another controversial topic that the Civilian council could win. His narrowed eye signaled a time for a counterargument, "Then lets talk about The Uzumaki, and the Kyuubi." Tsunade groaned; she didn't like where this was headed.

"The Uzumaki is also a Shinobi-"

"Do not play that card again, Tsunade! The boy used the Kyuubi's Chakra. He is a threat to the village now that he's tapped into that abomination's Chakra. He needs to be kept here and under my supervision!"

Tsunade slammed her palms on the podium, "Absolutely out of the question!" Her voice instilled fear into her people, "Naruto is not going to be part of your little cult. He's the most loyal Shinobi of this village, not some monster!" Danzo scoffed and shook his head slowly.

"It seems you've let your relationship with the boy hold bias to your decisions, Tsunade. What does that tell you about your Hokage, my fellow villagers?" The Civilian council sneered at Tsunade's moment of vulnerability, and acted on it by shouting for Naruto head. The blonde woman palmed her face.

"He needs to kept on a leash! Keeping him free will make him a flight-risk to the village." Homura argued uselessly, "As the village's jinchuuriki, he must be the village's attack dog!"

"And this is exactly why Tsunade left the responsibility of the boy's growth to me, Civilian council." Jiraiya entered the Council room nonchalantly while clapping mockingly as his sandals clacked on the floor, "Tsunade saw fit that Naruto Uzumaki be under MY care, and I'll see to it that he shall be a exceptional Shinobi."

"What?!"

"Yeah. Hime allowed me to get the kid some training. Kami knows he needs it more than anyone else. Well I've said my piece...buh-bye!" Jiraiya poofed into smoke to signal his exit.

* * *

Trees whizzed past by, various shades of dark green blurred, and the wind roared by the fleeing Jinchuriki. Naruto ran as fast as he could, trying to erase his worries just by running. It was all Naruto could do right now, and it seemed effective for just a moment.

After that rousing and unadulterated reality check from Saber, Naruto wanted nothing more than to remember the days where Shinobi were just looked at heroes, not empowered murderers. Running only helped the boy remember those days, and he wanted nothing more than to wipe that worry from his existence.

He would not kill Sasuke, no matter what!

Meanwhile with Saber, the King of Knights stared down at Caliburn, her sword. The regal legendary sword once placed in stone was now ironically placed into stone again. Her sword that started her legend rejected her Master, her Master of pure heart and willpower personified. She thought it possible for him to pull it from its rocky prison. Looking at the magnificent blade of gold and blue, Saber sighed deeply. "One day, Master. You'll be ready to pull Caliburn. But when you do, do not lose your humanity…do not lose what makes you unique. Do not become a king like I was," her Master has a long way to go before being able to pull her sword out of a rock. Before she disappeared into thin air, she grabbed Caliburn from the stone easily and delicately sheathed it in its scabbard. "Your legend, your story birthed from our legends will overshadow mines and others, Shadow of Heroes…"

Naruto ran hastily and haphazardly, not caring where his legs took him. His tears shed earlier now dried due to the warm air passing by him. He exited the forest that encompassed all the training grounds and headed for the bustling nightlife of his home village. When he ran, all spectators could see was an orange blur, and they knew who that blur was. One of these spectators was Ino, who brought several bags of groceries home. She saw the barely noticeable look of stress and trauma in Naruto's face. She suspected that Naruto had heard of his training trip outside the village and was rejecting the idea, but she hypothesized that just from suspicion alone. Seeing as she never saw that type of face on the giddy Shinobi, she ran after him, albeit carefully because of her fragile baggage.

The blonde boy ran past Ichiraku, ran past the Marketplace, ran past the plaza, and ran past the Hokage mansion to go to a place he could clear his mind: The Hokage Monuments. Ino followed shortly, panting slightly after the multi-kilometer jog from one side of the village to the other.

"Hey, what's wrong, Girl?" Ino perked up at the voice and turned around to see the long, spiky, white hair of Jiraiya the Sannin.

Ino bowed while saying, "Good evening, Jiraiya-sama. Do you know what happened to Naruto? I followed him after barely seeing his clearly upset face. He even looked like he was crying! Crying? Naruto of all people? Can you believe that, Jiraiya-sama?" Ino's show of disbelief in Naruto's actions alerted Jiraiya.

Interrogating Ino, the Sannin asked, "Where'd he go?"

Ino pointed to the monuments, "To the monuments, Jiraiya-sama." Immediately, Jiraiya ran after Naruto. Ino followed suit, determined to know what has gotten Naruto on edge. Conveniently, Kakashi, who was eating dinner just next to the conversing Shinobi, had heard all that. With great concern, Kakashi followed as well.

"Hey! Don't leave without paying!" Right after paying for that Shark Fin soup.

* * *

Inside Naruto's mindscape, Saber and the other Servants just sat in eerie and awkward silence. Hearing their Master's insistence to not kill the boy that acknowledged their Master's existence had either really hit the heart or not in Alter Ego's case. While the strange girl truly did feel sad for her Master's situation, she could not express that kind of emotion well. What she could express, one that some of the Servants harbored, was aggression.

"Was is necessary for you to do that, Saber?" Alter Ego asked harshly, "Was is necessary to give him your sword when he's only learning how to hold a sword for three days?! What were you thinking?" Saber sat in silence as she mentally reprimanding herself because of that truly foolish test that her Master wasn't ready to take.

Caster took action, "Now, now, Alter, we don't need that kind of negativity around here. Saber herself knows that she messed up." She mustered up her best optimistic smile as she tried to settle an igniting argument.

"Even so, she didn't need to tell the truth as bluntly as she did. I would expect that from Ruler or myself, but not from her!"

"While it is tragic, it is a necessary evil Master has to confront in order to mature," Ruler's accented words rang true to all Servants who saw need in giving their Master a reality check, "Though I wouldst have done it in moderation; it only means that Master will mature as fast as a caterpillar preparing itself to turn into a butterfly. Master will learn to confront the daunting task of killing his friend, but to do that, he needs to see the consequences of keeping his traitorous friend alive."

"I suggest you don't go that far, Ruler." Lancer stepped in, "You've already seen Master's distraught position, so why deepen it? You'll only make it worse," Lancer's persuasion didn't end there, "The seeds of doubt have been planted even if Master is rejecting it. The more you push that doubt, the more Master will reject it and continually force himself to not kill not just Sasuke but anyone at all!"

"**Hmph…You really should see what the brat's life has been. You'd see why he cares deeply for that lost cause.**"

"What do you mean, Kyuubi-san?" Archer asked the question everyone had in mind.

"**How about I show you?**" With a wave of its hand, Kyuubi changed the scenery from the dark, depressing sewer that was Naruto's mindscape to inside the city walls of Konoha. It was from Naruto's eyes, and the scenes passing by almost looked like a movie documentary.

"Get out of here brat!" a man yelled before literally kicking Naruto from a clothing store, "You are not buying any clothes from this store except those orange jumpsuits! The sooner you die, kid, the better it is for everyone else. So do us a favor and do it!" No one would see or care that Naruto shed a tiny bit of tears before taking the clothes the owner gave him. That was the origins of their Master's jumpsuit and it was one of the tame happenings during his childhood.

It was mostly tame in other days too. Civilians pretended to not notice the boy at anytime, and they would constantly ignore him to go on with their normal lives as they silently hated the boy for what he held. Though the children were another story as they would continually point to Naruto and casually call him, "Monster! Demon!" and stay away from him and leave the Jinchuuriki on his lonesome.

The extreme events happened only during his birthday, the day Kyuubi was announced to have been defeated by the great Fouth Hokage, a man who astonishingly looked _way _too similar to Naruto in hairstyle and facial structure. During those days, Naruto would sprint off into the darkness as he evaded either drunken or mourning civilians to avoid their hate-filled glares and the occasional bottle throwing.

In the Academy, he stayed the outcast trying to be the fool to be noticed by others. The hate was still there in the adults at least. The children saw Naruto in a new light; however, it wasn't any better because rather than being called demon, he was called-

"LOSER!"

"Moron!"

"Orphaned IDIOT!

"Dead last!"

"Noodle brains!"

Those insults echoed throughout Naruto's years in the Academy as he would desperately try to graduate from the Academy, yet fail because of an illusory propagation technique. The young Master did not give up and saw one of the students, Sasuke, as a rival. Though it was a ridiculous thought because Naruto was the class clown and failure whereas Sasuke was top dog of the class.

"Dobe."

"Try hard."

"Target practice."

They were at odds at first. Naruto was irritated at how 'holier than thou' Sasuke was acting while the other was irritated by Naruto's obnoxiousness and immaturity as a Shinobi. They bickered like a cat and dog and had a plethora of miniscule feuds none cared about to mention. The Wave mission came and the Servants saw their Master being protected by Sasuke when Naruto was about to become a pincushion. Cue curb-stomp battle between Haku and Naruto himself with Naruto beating Haku. Chunin exams came and still people would doubt Naruto's skills. Only Sasuke thought of Naruto as someone capable of being on par with him or at least give a challenge to him.

"You'll never be as good as Sasuke!"

"Give up, dead last."

Sasuke's face showed up and looked at Naruto, "Naruto…I want to fight you the most." Naruto's inner mind lit up like a firecracker. His rival had recognized him as someone worthy of a fight. The renowned dead last at the Academy had improved to the point of being noticed by his rival. From that point on, he only tried to get better despite not having a proper teacher.

"**The brat only wanted recognition as a human being, and the villagers rejected that idea. He resorted to being a clown, a jester, and it worked because it made him be seen as human, a degraded one, but a human one nonetheless. As you can see, Sasuke is the first one of the brat's age group to physically acknowledge the brat's humanity, individuality, and skill.**"

The Servants accepted the information into their heads. Saber looked more upset after hearing that; she had knowingly placed the true burden of a King unto Naruto and expected his pure heart and charisma to be enough to lift the blade from its prison. She looked beyond the walls of Naruto's mindscape, and looked at what was transpiring outside the walls.

* * *

The blonde Shinobi had stopped. His legs refused to carry him further than the spot he was on, the Hokage Monuments, and more specifically on the Fourth Hokage's head. Naruto sat on top of the Fourth Hokage's head, and looked to the view of the village with its bright lights illuminating the village in a faint, yellow glow.

"Do I really have no choice in the matter?" Naruto asked himself, "Am I so weak that I cant save him? He was just misguided…" Naruto clenched his teeth before yelling, "IS IT SO BAD TO TRY AND SAVE HIM?!" His voice echoed out, yet drowned out by the bustling sounds of the village. The boy slumped forward, trying to quell his anger and to suppress his tears, "Why? Why is it so bad to save him from his path to darkness?"

He would have muttered more saddening thoughts, but a familiar voice interrupted him with a, "Hey, Naruto!" The boy turned to the voice, Jiraiya's voice. "What are you doing here so late at night?" Jiraiya saw the answer in Naruto's slightly lifeless eyes. He also saw the sign of tears on his cheeks before his disciple turned around to face the village, "Hey now…what's wrong?"

"…"

"I'll treat you to some ramen if you tell me~"

"…"

"Oh…sounds very serious if you're refusing ramen."

"It sounds extremely serious Jiraiya-sama." Kakashi presented himself, "There is no way that the true Naruto would ever refuse ramen."

"Shut up, Pervy-Sage, Kakashi-sensei…" Naruto said weakly, "I want time alone." The white-haired men had a look of pondering before refusing with a childish-

"Hmm…No!" They said at the same time. Jiraiya started, "Now are you gonna tell us what's wrong, kid?" The boy didn't answer for a while, and just stared at the village.

Ino, who was just far enough to be away from Naruto's sight, saw and heard how strange the boy acted. This was not Naruto Uzumaki. This was not the Hyperactive Shinobi of Konoha. This was not him! She was slightly worried for Naruto's mental state. Whatever he had gone through in the recent hours must have traumatized him too much and it's taking its toll on his psyche.

"Saber…Saber told me that I should kill Sasuke…" Naruto said monotonously. Jiraiya and Kakshi were shocked. They didn't expect the woman to say that to Naruto. Ino was at a loss for words just as much as the elder Shinobi, "She told me I can't get to the next step without realizing I have to make sacrifices for the greater good, that I have to kill in order keep the peace, and that I can't handle the mantle of leadership because of my refusal to kill!" Naruto's voiced sounded feral, and the elder Shinobi could feel Naruto's anger and despair, "She told me I'd have to accept that Sasuke might be a lost cause, and that I might need to kill him if he doesn't change. And I can't do that for reasons you two should understand!"

Jiraiya sighed and so did Kakashi. They realized this would be the moment Naruto had to grow up and take their profession seriously. They did not like to talk about things like murder to a greenhorn like the boy in front of them. However, it was in the job description so Naruto had no excuse to say he didn't know he or any other Shinobi would kill.

"My goodness…Saber just handed the reigns to us, eh?" Jiraiya vainly joked, yet his disciple was not laughing. He stared at the serious eyes of an Uzumaki.

"I don't have time for jokes, Jiraiya-sensei. I have no idea what to do! To get to the next step, I must accept that I will have to make sacrifices for the greater good, but I don't think that killing Sasuke is the way to go about it!"

"…"

"He's just misguided! He has to be!" Naruto confidently claimed to his master, "I can get him back. Just train me some more, Jiraiya-sensei, and I'll do the best I can!"

"I'm sure you would, kid." Jiraiya answered lowly, "But…as it stands, to the rest of the governing body of Konoha and the other villages, Sasuke is a missing-nin with a large bounty for his head. Not as large as Kakashi or mines, but large enough for a genin." Naruto's eyes widened as the news dropped on him like a bomb.

His reaction exploded like a bomb too, "W-what?" Naruto asked in shock, "T-there's no way that's real!" Ino gasped silently

"You heard right, Naruto. Sasuke is considered as a criminal, a traitor to the Leaf." Kakashi's somber voice hit the boy through the heart. Naruto knew that tone was a tone of sadness, of regret…

Of loss…

"Naruto, you know that Orochimaru was my teammate, right?" Jiraiya asked his trembling disciple, "I wanted him to change his mind too, but in the end he didn't, and we fought. I hesitated when dealing the finishing blow, and he ran away. All my life since thn, I've regretted that action, and now Sarutobi-sensei is dead, and he is a criminal many are on the lookout for." Naruto took the information in like a sponge as he imagined his teacher's battle with his friend too. "There'll come a time when you realize that Sasuke won't come back, Naruto. I won't give you false hope that Sasuke is capable of changing, but in the event that he does, he must face consequences…dire or deadly consequences…"

"So…so you're saying that-"

"You have little to no chance, and most likely you must kill him, or else the worst Tsunade might order for his execution." Jiraiya interrupted.

"…But why…? Why does it have to be like this? Naruto Uzumaki does not break promises, Jiraiya-sensei! Naruto Uzumaki fulfills them, and not once did he stray from that. And so I can't back down from this one just yet!"

"In a profession like this, promises are nothing but things that get you KILLED!" Jiraiya yelled as he jabbed a finger on his student's shoulder, "You're telling me that if someone asks you to promise them that you'd come back alive from a war, that you'd come back safe and sound? Are you telling me that you're _that_ foolish to believe that you are even skilled enough to survive a war that'll last kami knows how long?!" Naruto flinched at the volume his master was giving him. Naruto knew wars were battles where he would likely die, but he would give his friends hope when he promises, so why can't his master see that? "Kid, I've seen Shinobi with great talents die bearing that same promise to his or her loved ones and left those loves ones broken. You trying to fulfill a promise you can't keep will only hurt you inside as each passing day tortures you with the thought of Sasuke not ever coming back. Trust me when I say that that's what I thought about Orochimaru when this happened to me too! I wanted him to come back too! I thought the same things as you did, and did what you are going to do: fight him!"

Naruto tried making an outburst of refusal, yet those words crawled back into his throat; he had nothing, he had no statement that could refute a future he would most likely have. A Shinobi rarely dies old, and the good ones tend to die young; in a blaze of glory to add. Not many live past his or her forties. Traitors were also dealt with on a constant basis, so what did Sasuke have that made him different from other traitors? He's a friend? Naruto shook his head on that weak answer. Many traitors had friends they had to leave behind. He's a... Naruto drew a blank. What else was Sasuke to him other than the obvious?

He had no idea…

"Naruto," Kakashi chipped in, "I know what you're going through; however the difference between us is that I killed my teammate. I killed her to save millions. I killed my friend to do that, Naruto. She was a lovable, cheery girl. She's much like Sakura in regard –without the loud voice-" Kakashi chuckled weakly, "She was forced to be a Jinchuriki, Naruto; she was forced to become the vessel for the Sanbi and was planned to be released into the village. I guess another difference is that she asked for that death. She wanted to save Konoha by asking me to end hers."

"And as you said, that's different! She was prepared to die for the village, and she wasn't a traitor!"

"And Sasuke is!" Jiraiya yelled, "You can't stay ignorant, Naruto. Sasuke chose to leave the village for a reason!"

"Don't you think I know that?!" Naruto retorted, "Sasuke left because he needed power to get back at his brother. But that power is evil, corrupt, and it's twisted his mind! I won't kill him! I won't kill anyone!"

"But you have killed someone, Naruto." Kakashi said to the Naruto. The news shook both blondes in the area. Naruto's mind, already in a mad dash, looked for possible identities he might've killed. He was interrupted when Kakashi gave him the answer, "You killed Doto Kazehana. You killed Princess Koyuki Kazehana's Uncle when you shoved that Rasengan into his gut and made him fly into the wall of the heat generator."

"B-But!"

"Koyuki lied to you, Naruto. You killed Doto at the moment his body met the wall. She didn't tell you that so you wouldn't lose that smile of yours; she wanted you to stay pure. But now responsibility caught up with you, and you must accept that what we do is nothing more than kill!"

"We are more than that! We are heroes, we are saviors, we are-"

"Killers!"

Ino had enough drama and let her presence be known to the arguing duo. She stepped out of her hiding place and stepped in between master and student. Standing her ground, she spread her arms out wide with a palm facing the arguing master and student. "Stop it!" she yelled, "Jiraiya-sama, Kakashi-sensei…enough…enough grief…is this…is this how you're going to end Naruto's last night here?!"

"Huh?" Naruto's lack of reaction either meant his brain still processed the information, or he's emotionally exhausted from yelling and crying.

"Naruto…this is your last night here in Konoha. We'll be leaving tomorrow for your training trip…" Jiraiya explained sadly to his already fragile disciple. He squeezed his eyes shut to reel back from a possible emotional outburst from the boy, yet he did not feel or hear the boy yelling at him. The man waited a few seconds when he heard-

"Jitaiya-sama…he left." Ino told the man.

"Huh?"

Ino looked at the orange blur in the distance. He already cleared past the plaza. She could only speculate the pain her comrade could be in, but she should not interfere with his fragile heart tonight. Tomorrow, she and her friends will. She nodded mentally; she'll get her friends together to make the best farewell party to the leaving teen. It's only fair that she and the others give the boy a smile when he leaves.

She turned to the Sannin, "Let him clear his mind, Jiraiya-sama. From what I've heard, he should calm his head first and foremost before you place more depressing news to him." Jiraiya nodded slightly, and soon left the area.

"Can you brighten his night, Ino?" Kakashi asked the Yamanaka.

"No…" Ino answered sadly, "I'd like to help him, but as it stands, Naruto would shut me out because I know about his training trip. I'm an accomplice."

"I see…"

* * *

Naruto sat silently as he slumped forward with eyes scanning the floor with no idea what to look for. His mind scrambled to understand what in the world is happening tonight…He was told to accept that he might need to kill Sasuke; that he killed Koyuki's tyrannical Uncle, and that he would leave tomorrow… '_Where did it all go wrong?_' Naruto asked himself. He tried thinking, yet his efforts only hurt his head. He cradled his head with his hands as he braced it so the pain would lessen. Eventually, the pain subsided, and he changed into his sleeping garments to sleep his worries away…

Once in deep sleep, Naruto's mindscape forcefully projected itself into his dreamless sleep. Shocked by the unannounced visit, he scrambled as he stood up. Saber stood in front of him with a serious look on her face.

"Master... I wish to speak to you about something…" Saber began in a serious tone, even more serious than when they discussed when Naruto failed to get Caliburn out of the stone.

"Okay… Go ahead, Saber-sensei."

"Just as both of your teachers said, I and the other servants had to sacrifice many comrades to accomplish our goals back then in our past lives."

"Saber..." Naruto could only say, wondering what hardships the blonde swordswomen had to go through.

"Let me speak, Master…" Saber insisted, making the young Master close his mouth in accordance to the Knight's wishes, "While I can't tell you everything about my life yet, I can tell you how I had lost everything close to me while following my ideal. Back then, I used to be...a Knight, a swordsman akin to that of your modern Samurai; loyal to the leader of a kingdom, and faced many threats to protect our people from invaders and traitors, regardless of what they thinked of us..."

Naruto made the connection with the Knights and Shinobi protecting their home. However, he immediately thought of Knight as more honorable warriors, saviors to the weak. What he didn't know was that Knights had to kill to protect their home as well.

Saber sighed, remembering how the people she protected and even her fellow Knights looked at her in fear, as if she was a tyrant just because of how she acted without emotions. "But then...I discovered that one of the most loyal Knight, and someone that the king had callen friend, had an affair with his wife, whom was chosen to be his Queen for the kingdom's sake..." Berserker then flinched, but it was unnoticed by Naruto, who was wrapped up in Saber's tale.

"Yet, eventually that Knight's affair with the queen was eventually revealed through the plans of traitors who hated the kingdom, causing them to stand opposed. But even so, the King did not see this inescapably unrighteous action as a betrayal, but instead understood the queen's sacrifice due to her compromise to him being more of an arranged marriage instead of true love. Yet the King still acted in the capacity of someone from his rank for the kingdom's sake, and thus his wife was to be executed..." Naruto could see Saber shaking before she continued, "But the Knight that was the Queen's lover could not stand by while she was killed, bringing about a tragedy where no one was right and no one was wrong..."

"So…did she die?"

"No," Saber answered, "She survived because of the traitorous Knight's action." Naruto gave a small sigh of relief, and let the Knight continue her story, "Then eventually the King's greatest weapon was stolen while he, I and many other loyal Knights repelled an assault along the country's borders; but when we returned, we discovered the kingdom was being torn asunder by civil unrest. Despite our valiant efforts to placate the dissent, the King and I were mortally wounded by the traitorous Knight, and leader of the traitors, the King's own son, Mordred, during the final battle of the kingdom before he was killed..." Now the blonde master could see some tears falling from her eyes, "While I lay near dead, the King's dying body was escorted to a holy isle by his remaining knight. Then he ordered to the grieving knight to dispose of his weapon by throwing it back to the lake where it was found… I heard how my King reflected on his personal failures, regretting his life as King before dying...wanting a new chance for redemption for his lost kingdom..."

"…" Naruto sat silently as he reconsidered his options once more. He could give Sasuke a chance. That King followed his duties to the end even though his most loyal Knight and his wife betrayed him, and he didn't falter in his choice to brand them as traitors. Besides, he's already killed; an action he still needed to fully comprehend, and he can't actually say he won't kill anyone anymore because he'd done the deed a while ago. On Sasuke's part, he disobeyed the laws of the village and deserted it on his own accord. If Naruto decides to be a leader, he must do the same things that King Saber mentioned to keep his village together and safe from harm. He rubbed his head as he yelled, "Argh! This is so infuriating!"

"What's so infuriating, Master?"

"How about a compromise?!" Naruto suggested, "Let me take that test! One more time! Your story gave me some insight and so did Pervy-Sage and Kakashi-sensei. I want to try that test again because I understand what Sasuke did was something unforgivable and punishable. He deserves at least punishment for his crimes. All I want is to have some chances."

"Chances?"

"Obviously, right now…I'm naïve, but your story along with Pervy-sage and Kakashi-sensei's opened my eyes a bit. I'm spouting nonsense about being Hokage when I don't even have what it takes to be a leader. A leader has to protect his or her subordinates. I want to try it again for the sake of trying again. Besides, if I can't get the sword out, how will I master you or the others?"

Saber looked long and hard at her Master. She processed her Master's words, and saw sincerity that he knows he is inexperienced in being a leader, and inexperienced in making sacrifices. She understood that her Master knew his weaknesses as a leader. Knowing mistakes, and learning from them improves a leader's capability to lead; a trait Saber failed to understand during her life. Maybe running away from his problems, and running into more helped her Master. She just hoped this enlightned Master could pull Caliburn from the stone.

"Alright, Master. Let's go."

* * *

Naruto and Saber returned to the area where Caliburn stayed for the test. Saber returned the sword into the stone, and waited for Naruto to once again pull the sword from the stone. The sword shone brightly as the moon hit the blade.

The blonde Master closed his eyes, '_Sasuke…you've your reasons, and I respect that. However, it didn't need to happen like that. You could have stayed, and improved yourself here. You took the easy way out, and left the village and ignored the laws that even I had followed unconsciously._' He moved his hand to the sword's grip, and closed his hand tightly, '_If I wish to become Hokage, I need to make sacrifices like many leaders do. I need to do what's right, but right now…I can't kill you yet. I want to get through to you some more. I need to give you a chance. It sounds stupid, but hey…either you die or I die. Or the hopeful alternative, you come back, and take your punishment like a man._' Naruto pulled his arm up slowly, and he felt the slight jolt of the sword moving out of the rock, '_I either get you back here, and make you take your punishment, or I die trying, or you die. I don't know which of the three would happen, but hopefully soon…I can do all three when we meet. As a friend, I want you safe. As a Shinobi, you will be killed or captured. As Naruto Uzumaki…I will do what I must to protect the village. Whether you choose to come home or not, I will make the necessary action, Sasuke. I promise you on that!_'

He pulled the blade with all his might. It moved ever so slightly with each tug, as if it resisted the would-be wielder's touch. Saber looked at her Master with keen eyes. Her Master was thinking about something. She guessed it must be something about his resolve or decision. Whatever it was, it's working. Not a half minute later, Naruto pulled Caliburn out of the stone, but not without penalty.

Naruto pointed it out to Saber, "Is a sword supposed to be this heavy?" He asked the woman as she looked at her Master having difficulty lifting the blade. She hypothesized an answer.

"Caliburn has accepted your compromise," Saber replied to her confused Master, "The easier you accept that you may have to make sacrifices in life as both a leader and a follower, the easier it is to wield Caliburn. In a way, Caliburn is making you feel the burden a sword carries." Naruto nodded in understanding as he struggled lifting the blade up to look at it in its full and magnificent glory.

And so starts the legend of the Shadow of Heroes, the Eiyu no Kage…

**A glimpse into the future…**

There are many possibilities; paralled worlds in which an event plays out differently with a subtle touch while others drastically change as if dropping a penny started a civil war! Sure there could be a world out there that has that specific event happening right now, and we won't know about it. Parallels don't ever touch.

The Grail destroys that principle, bringing in heroes of old with varying differences in story or history like King Arthur actually being a girl in the world we'll be looking at soon.

A Shinobi with the principles of a knight and hero enters the fray as the last Servant to enter the Grail war. He's from the future, so practically nobody knows of his legend. Which suits his situation fine. It'd be a shame to hide his wonderful Kyuseki with some lame concealing magic to keep his identity secret.

Now let's go on to the actual glimpse of the future…

Shirou ran for his life. That blue-clad spearman is _STILL_ chasing after him! Why? Why is he still chasing this average-looking teen all the way to his home? Better yet, why is he still alive?! Last thing he remembered, he got stabbed _THROUGH THE HEART! _

The red head saw the glint of red on the corner of his left eye. On reflex, he dodged, leading the spear to puncture a hole in the wall in front of him. Shirou decided that being in his house; hallways are not safe places to be in with a spearman hellbent in killing him.

Actually, no place is safe for him.

The blue spearman grabbed the collar of his uniform and chucked him outside of his home. Shirou landed with a thud, and he quickly stood up to run away from the assailant.

"You just won't die, won't you, cockroach?!" The spearman yelled, "No matter. I killed you before, and I'll kill you again." That was Shirou's signal to run even faster now. To have that feeling of death on his back really motivated him to run like never before. Ah the wonders of adrenaline...

The future Acher halted his retreat when the spearman cut him off, and slammed the shaft of his spear on the teen's side, and sent the boy sprawling on the shed's floorboards. The teen groaned in pain, and unconsciously activated his magic circuits. He needed to fight back now! He searched for anything he can use as a weapon.

Sure he might die, but he already did...technically.

Unknowingly, the spearman entered the shed and prepared to stab Shirou once more. "Ready to die again?" The spearman asked. He waited for only a second before rearing the spear back and trusts it towards Shirou.

The teen activated his circuits and suddenly, a blinding, orange light emerged behind him. He dismissed it as nothing but the afterlife ready to claim his soul. What he didn't expect was the sound of metal clashing against metal.

Clinkssssssshh! The screeching sound of metal grinding on metal certainly alerted both assassin and victim. A second later, the spearman couldn't react in time, and rocketed out of the shed's doorframe. The man rolled away before crouching and skidding on the ground to stop. He readied his spear for a fight. It irritated him, but he, his victim, is now a Master, and being a Master means that he has a Servant; a powerful one.

In the shed, Shirou looked at what he could only describe as an orange knight. He had white armor, pauldrons, gauntlets, and greaves, but his main color, the one Shirou could really point out, is that he wears a lot of orange. But who is this mysterious orange knight/savior?

He hoped to get an answer when the hooded knight turned around. There, Shirou saw a triangular visor covered the man's eyes, and the hood hid his spiky, blonde hair. The whisker marks on his face was the only defining point after those features. With a smooth and eloquent voice that doesn't match his rough exterior, he asked, "I got your call. Are you my Master?" Shirou nodded dumbly at the knight. He didn't know what to think about the tall and orange-clad warrior who saved him from an early death.

"Y-yes?" Shirou answered cautiously.

"Then the pact is solidified, and yadayadayada…" The blonde knight smiled, and said, "You looked like you were about to die, eh? You want him gone, Master?"

"Gone?" Shirou repeated. He had an idea, but he wanted to hear what he meant.

"You know...eliminate, make him NOT exist, …dead?" The knight explained himself, and Shirou looked with wide eyes at the blonde knight as he did not hesitate to ask if he wanted the spearman dead. Shirou whimpered slightly, and the knight simply took it as a yes, "Okay then! Lancer-san, here I come!" He jumped out of the shed with blade in hand.

'_So he really is a knight..._' Shirou thought in silent awe.

The spearman, Lancer, looked at the boy's savior. He was shocked to say the least. With that sword in hand, he suspected that the new Servant was a Saber. But that's not possible! He already fought Saber -quite the looker by the way- and she had very well have killed him already had the onlooker be there at the wrong time.

"Yo, Lancer-san! You think I can try doing what you do?" Lancer raised an eyebrow at that, but decided to ignore the rather eccentric knight. The blonde Servant sheathed his sword and created a very familiar spear into his hands. The red spear glinted under the moonlight's rays. Lancer did not react a tiny bit; however, on the inside, his mind scrambled around how the new Servant has HIS Gae Bolg.

At a nearby rooftop, Rin Toshaka and her Servant, Saber, looked in surprise at what the new Servant did. He created the lance Lancer held onto. Saber deduced that the Servant is not a Saber. There cannot be two Sabers; he didn't look like a Berserker, Archer, nor Rider. Caster maybe because he created that Lance out of magic, but definitely not the previous ones mentioned. So is he Caster? But he can be an Assassin, yet it defies his knight-like appearance.

They needed to find out soon, and the white-clad Saber would find the information they needed for her Master's future knowledge. She hoisted her blade hidden by wind and jumped from the rooftop to join the fray.

The orange spearman noticed Saber and shifted his body so he faced both opponents. He smirked, "A standoff, eh? I can deal with that. Bring it on, Saber-san, Lancer-san." His left hand released the shaft to grab the sword from its sheath at the right hip. Both known Servants narrowed their eyes at the act of dual-wielding spear and sword. They were thinking of possible identities, yet could not figure out who this orange-clad knight is supposed to be.

Giving up, Saber asked, "Who are you? What is your Servant class?"

The orange knight lowered his weapons, but not his guard; smart move on his part. He stabbed his sword in the ground in unceremonious manner, and said, "Now that'd be telling, Saber-san." His childish and mocking voice irked Lancer, but not the woman questioning him. He continued, "Tell you what...if you can force me to use the characteristic that makes me my Servant class, then you know my class." He picked up his sword, "So...shall we dance, King of Knights, and Culann's Savage Dog?" His foxy grin, plastered on his face, told the other warriors that he was confident that he got his opponents' titles right.

Saber and Lancer shivered at their identities revealed so immediately. This was no ordinary Servant -as all Servants in the Grail war should be- if he could discern the identities without so much as a need to look at his opponents' Noble Phantasms.

They repeated the question in their head, '_Who is this Servant?!_'

"Now then, shall we go, Lancer? Saber?" Smirked the blonde in orange as both servants stood there for a second before going at the same time. The orange Servant did not falter from his position, and let his opponents come to him. He smirked at the charging duo, and remembered the times he sparred with these two people. Ah...the days where he'd get beaten up so badly...those were the days. Now, he can stand and fight these two equally in terms of skill between both sword and spear. He readied himself as Lancer thrusts his spear towards the Servant, and Saber swinging her invisible sword overhead. And then what Shirou and Rin could see where flashes and sounds of steel clashing as SOMEHOW the orange knight managed to block the attacks from TWO SERVANTS AT THE SAME TIME! Sword met sword as did spear meeting its copy.

'W-what is he?!' Rin thinked as she saw her Saber going for another slash, only for the orange servant to use his sword to block and throw her back as Lancer tried to do a sneak attack with his speed, but the orange hero managed to parry Gae Bolg with his copy of Gae Bolg AND deflect the strike in a matter of seconds! But unlike Rin, Shirou was watching the battle between heroes with awe and surprise, never expecting to see such confrontation happen in front of him!

'_So...this is what a battle between warriors of the past is_?' The red-head thought as he saw his...servant use his replicated lance as a pole to jump over a horizontal slash from the girl in white armor and then quickly use his sword to block a thrust attack from the blue man's lance before spinning around behind him and kick him to the ground!

'DAMN!' Lancer mentally shouted as he stood up from the ground and saw the orange servant avoid all the slashes that Saber keep attacking him with...and with that goddamn smirk on his face!

Meanwhile the orange hero was avoiding Saber's slashes and blocking those he couldn't while he saw some differences on the one before him from the one that taught him:

'_This Saber has a white dress unlike the blue that Saber-nee wore..._' He analyzed calmly. _'Also this one is more feminine...and is that Caliburn?!_' Now the shocked blonde noticed that like the blue Saber who had Excalibur in a wind coat, this one had Caliburn in one as well! Problem is…Naruto recognizes the magic and automatically disabled it for him to see. He inspected the blade some more before Saber finally managed to cut off his visor with all her strength, sending him flying away a few feet from the impact before he recovered and grinned.

"How's...that?! Now want to use your abilities?!" Saber grinned...until she saw the orange servant smile.

"Not bad at all Saber-chan~! It seems you caught me off guard!" The knight laughed like it wasn't a problem at all, and he clapped at Saber's action like he would as if he was patting a baby on the head!

"Quiet! Stop talking and show me some more action!" Saber yelled indignantly towards the orange knight.

"Oww... that hurts, Saber-chan. do you not want me to thrust my long shaft into your body?" The blonde asked in a mix of sincerity and teasing, but the way he said it made it look more like sarcasm and pure mockery to the female knight! "Such language! Young girls like yourself shouldn't say that! How will you expect to find a husband with such dirty mouth?!" the respectable-looking knight's mischievous disposition degraded what the others thought about the Servant from initially looking at his dignified look.

It really didn't help that the double meaning of those words made Saber, Rin and Shirou blush while Lancer laughed his own ass off for a moment...

After that, the orange servant stabs the copy of Lancer's spear as well as his sword into the ground to snap his fingers. Thunder crackled as it snaked around the dark sky, and struck the ground slightly to the left of the orange knight. The lightning fizzled out to show a gargantuan-

"What the hell, man? A lion?" Lancer cried out. Indeed, as Lancer said, it was a colossal Lion wearing black and orange armour around its body! Upon looking at its back, one could see the large curved sheath all katanas have. Lancer cringed; this lion knows how to use a katana made for its size!

_'A lion?! Is he Rider?!_' Thinked Saber while holding herself from petting the beast in front of her, _'Even so how he was able to replicate Lancer's weapon?_'

"Well then Kiritsugu, you know what to do!" Grinned the orange servant as the now named Kiritsugu the lion scanned its master's opponents before seeing Lancer, and remembering that the blue man had helped his master, the lion went to lick the Servant as thanks for what he did. It would lick the woman later as well since she looked the same as that more conservative-looking woman with the same face.

Lancer himself, who had a secret phobia of lions after almost being eaten by a female lion cub, saw things differently, and soon the blue servant was running from the happy, trampling lion while screaming like a little girl.

_**And that's it for this chapter. I don't know what to say about this one. I just hope you accept it for what it is, and hope you understand what Sasuke has in store if he does redeem himself.**_

_**No cliché beatings from this Naruto's past. And Doto died! And yes I made Caliburn somewhat easygoing on Naruto. Hey, if you hate it, I don't mind. I honestly kinda BSed that part really. I need to fix that a bit, but maybe I'll do it in the near future.**_

_**Also that omake will be ongoing. It will retell the 5**__**th**__** Grail war and how Naruto changes the story. It'll be up to Element-Overlord to choose which route the omake/5**__**th**__** Grail war story will take.**_

_**So review, follow, favorite, I don't care. Tell me your complaints, and I'll try to make some improvements to them by the time the next chapter comes.**_

_**This is Azure signing off.**_


	7. Chapter 6: Day of Departure

_**So hey guys! It's time for another chapter. I hope you see that Sasuke won't go unpunished; I won't stoop as low as to let that happen when it wouldn't happen in real life. **_

_**Also, I have a question I'll put at the end Author's Note. **_

_**Anyways…let's start the chapter! **_

_** Noctus Of The Thousand Blades: Your wish is granted. Eiyu no Kage has a separate fic for the 5th Grail war happenings. But this chapter will have some extra make scenes of the first chapter to show to people if they haven't seen the second fic.**_

_** A**__**idan Kennedy: Everyone will know of the harem members in due time.**_

_**Disclaimer: first chapter**_

Chapter 6: The Day of Departure

In the modest, and small restaurant of Ichiraku Ramen stand, a council of sorts assembled to do one thing in particular. The topic at hand directed itself to the restaurant's main patron, Naruto Uzumaki himself. The members of this hastily made council are friends of Naruto's, and they assembled to create a farewell party for their fellow Shinobi after hearing that the hyperactive Shinobi will be leaving for a training trip. As such, they panicked. They needed to find farewell gifts fast! One such member looked at the scene with a blank stare –he certainly didn't think that it was that big of a deal to get the guy presents. He lazily went out of the restaurant because he knew what to give his colleague.

The others however…they trampled over each other as they tried finding solutions to their own problems. Three of them already found their answer easily, and went to the kitchen to work their magic. One already left to finish forging her present, which was made days before. Three followed her to ask for help with their present for the boy. Another went to his home go get him a book on insects in the Elemental Nations. A boy and his dog wondered what to give the guy, but could not find a proper gift at the moment. One left to go to her master to ask for help, while her friend looked for a flower that resembles his color scheme. Another girl left to look for a book that could help the boy incapacitate his opponents.

A boy and his sensei agree on a gift, and hastily run to follow the forging girl to buy their gift there. A Jounin woman and her best friend –who was dragged into this- found their respective gifts, which correlate with their expertise. A smoking Jounin wondered what the boy's elemental nature is, so he'd get the boy Chakra paper. His colleague, the masked Jounin, already had his prepared, and boy would it be a treat to see his student read it.

* * *

Hours later, Jiraiya and Tsunade, both in her office, conversed on the hot topic of Konoha, Naruto, once more. Tsunade leisurely sat back into her chair while her teammate held a stern face she had not seen in quite a long time. Curious, she took a chance and asked, "What gotten you down in the dumps, Jiraiya?"

"Ahhh…me and the kid got in a fight."

"Really?" Tsunade asked, "What happened?"

Jiraiya started explaining, "I was walking around town to find the kid, but I saw the Yamanaka heir running then halting to catch her breath. I was curious about why she was running, so I asked her. Turns out she saw Naruto upset, and quite worried for him. She pointed me to the monuments, where I overheard Naruto crying his heart out about is it bad to save his friend." Tsunade obediently listened to this exposition; moreover, she looked quite surprised that the Yamanaka was worried for the boy. Jiraiya continued, "The reason he was upset was because Saber took the liberty to telling the kid to grow up."

"Grow up?" Tsunade repeated, "Really?"

"That's the summary. She actually meant that there is little to no chance that Sasuke will come back, and the kid must face the fact that he might need to kill the Uchiha. If Sasuke does return, I told Naruto that most likely Sasuke'll get a death sentence. Obviously he took it negatively. I told him what happened with Orochimaru and I, and Kakashi, who was with me when I arrived, told his story about how he killed his last teammate to save Konoha. I only got worse when Kakashi told the truth about Doto Kazahana."

"You mean the previous, tyrannical ruler of the newly named Spring country?"

"Yes. Finally Ino, who'd been hiding throughout the conversation, spilled the beans about our training trip. That was the last straw before he left." The Hokage was left silent about the story. True to Jiraiya's summary of Saber's words, Naruto needed to grow up. That childish naivety would get him killed one day. Despite the harsh words, it's quite necessary for him to clearly see the harsh reality they live in.

Sighing, she said, "So I'm guessing you're the reason Sakura asked me to find a scroll on medical techniques of all things?"

"What?"

"Nevermind…"

* * *

_Haven't you heard, Baa-chan? The -! I can even the balance of power. Why are you so afraid of me joining the inevitable bloodshed? When bad be__comes t__he worst, -. And frankly, I'd like to die in the heat of battle -! _

_No! You will go - for your safety. – I'll be damned if I let you die to that monster!_

_Be as it may, Hokage-sama! I want to protect this world and its people. So either you knock me out, or - . You hear me, _**Hokage-sama**_?!_

Naruto woke up with a startle. What _was _that dream? His voice sounded deeper, and he sounded a lot more confident too. A dream of the future, perhaps? It certainly wasn't nightmarish in origin, but what other type of dream could it be? Looking at his surroundings, the young Master recognized he's in his moderately sized apartment. He scratched his head, and his already unkempt, spiky hair looked even more ridiculous with bedhead.

"_What's wrong, Master?_" Saber asked from Naruto's mindscape.

"_I don__'t know, Saber… What _was_ that dream?_"

"_A vision?_" Saber guessed.

"_Probably… but nevermind that. I leave today… for that training trip._"

"_I think it's better this way, Master. With this training trip, you'll see the outside world more, learn things without interference, and adopt some techniques from other foes you meet._"

"_I guess__… __still it__'s saddening to leave my friends behind._" His somber voice sounded like a breeze, quiet as if a whisper. He got out of bed and gathered his necessities such as scrolls, ramen, clothes, and ramen. After that, he stuffed them neatly in a bag before he freshened up with a shower.

"_I'm sure they understand._" Saber said, trying to console her Master, "_They do know you're trying to get stronger after all…_"

"_Hey…what's that smell?_" Naruto asked Saber. The young Master sniffed the air. The oily aroma snaked around his apartment. Tiny, rapid claps echoed as well; could someone be frying something? It smelled like chicken. He could also smell that ramen, and something sweet along with it. Having enough, Naruto walked to his kitchen to see Archer in a pink, frilled apron that bore the words, "Real men wear PINK!" while cooking breakfast. Naruto looked quite surprised Archer had the gall to wear a feminine color on an apron -it even has _frills!_

"Morning, Master!" Archer greeted gleefully while flipping a round, brown…thing in a pan… Naruto looked quite interested at his Servant's unique food. It looked edible; the smell supported that thought.

Naruto greeted his Servant with an equally happy "Morning! What's that?"

"Oh this?" Archer pointed to the food, "This is a pancake. You put maple syrup on it and boom! Instant sweetness invades your flavor." His Master looked skeptical, but took a seat at the table, where Archer placed the food on a platter. Before Naruto could take a bite, the food disappeared in a flash of silverware. Archer sighed. He already predicted that happening. He even grabbed that bowl right by his head, and filled the bowl with rice and eggs and chicken because the food on the table disappeared into _someone's _stomach, "Can you not eat all of Master's breakfast?" Archer scolded the perpetrator.

The perpetrator, Saber, stopped in mid chew and looked embarrassed at her gluttonous tendency with Archer's cooking. But as that embarrassed look settled in, she eradicated it from her face to replace it with a more stoic expression.

"I'm terribly sorry, Master. It's just that Archer's cooking is quite divine." Even with that stoic expression on her face, Naruto heard the hint of satisfaction in her voice; he might have even heard her stomach purring at the mere taste of Archer's cooking of all things possible! The Master awkwardly nodded and smiled at the Knight before he looked on his plate. Fried Chicken on the top left corner, rice at the bottom, Spring rolls at the right side on the plate. On the left side of the plate, a steaming hot ramen bowl simmered, while the platter on the right had three stacks of that…Pancake dripped in Maple syrup. Deciding to try the foreign food, he grabbed his chopsticks and grabbed a Pancake at its side. Obviously, it led to a mess, a sticky, manageable one.

"Ah. Master. Don't use chopsticks for that." Archer said to his Master, he grabbed a pair of silver utensils. The blonde Master eyed the pair of silver suspiciously. They were a four-pronged utensil (?) and a deliberately dull knife. Was he supposed to cut a piece and then stab the cut piece and bite that? "Of course, Master. That's exactly how you use them!"

"Huh…" Naruto croaked out while still looking at the utensils strangely. Judging by the mere shape, this pronged utensil, which Naruto still doesn't understand is a fork, could probably be used as a weapon; however, not a truly deadly weapon. If anything, he could use this thing to just mess with Jiraiya if he's going to just ignore him to ogle at women.

If only it would be more aerodynamic…

Little did he know, that he'd make that desire come true in the future when he learns a very important skill that makes him unique from the rest. But that's a story for a later time. Let the young Master eat his breakfast.

Ten minutes later…

"Archer! More seconds please!"

"Of course, Master."

"Archer, I'd like some more too."

"Of course, Saber."

The eaters at the table stuffed themselves to the brim with Archer's divine cooking skills. It's a good thing that he used all the ingredients he could to make it; they'd be leaving soon, and it'd be a shame to waste. His Master and Saber seemed to agree with their mewls of satisfaction making the blonde pair purr at his cooking. As soon as their plate was devoid of any sign of food, they slammed it onto the table to signal for more food. The man smiled at their reaction. They're becoming like brother and sister through the simple task of eating breakfast.

* * *

When the two were done, Archer took the dishes to clean them. All the while, the young Master wondered if Archer could teach him to cook like that. It'd be a great skill to have in general. As Saber said, the food was indeed divine, but the ramen Archer made –it's a very close alternative- could never beat Ichiraku's ramen.

Minutes later, someone knocked on Naruto's door. Naruto opened the door while wondering who in the world could it be. It surprised the blonde to see the familiar shade of pink and the shine of gold in front of him.

"Morning, Naruto!" Sakura greeted.

"M-morning, Sakura-chan…, Ino." Naruto stammered out. He didn't expect Sakura to be the one at his door in this hour, nor Ino. It was only six in the morning for crying out loud. Then again, he is Sakura's teammate, and she probably heard from Kakashi about him leaving to train. Ino could be here for the sole reason of trying to make amends with him for hiding the secret. He didn't know how to feel about the Yamanaka right now. As for his teammate, it really saddened him to leave at such short notice, but Naruto needed to get stronger if only to confidently stare at Sakura's eyes later on; he'd failed to fulfill his promise.

Steeling himself, Naruto asked, "What are you doing here?" It was a simple question, and a good way to start the conversation; Sakura, or Ino for that matter, rarely knocked on his door –ever.

Sakura smiled and replied, "To get you out of your apartment, silly. We have quite a while before you leave, right?" Naruto kept silent. It's best to think that every single one of his friends know about him leaving, "C'mon. Let's get you some Ichiraku for the road." Naruto perked up at the moment Sakura pulled out that card, yet slightly averted his gaze from the girl. He nodded, turned around and gathered his belongings. Ino noticed the boy's lack of verbal response, but a nod is better than nothing.

He entered his room, a single bed with a dresser beside it, and a closet opposite of the bed. He grabbed his backpack by the bed. The hard wood floor, clean and pristine as those from a dojo, squeaked under Naruto's somber footsteps; It would be his last steps into his home before leaving. Looking at his bed, he saw the sheets folded, pillows arranged properly, and not a single speck of wrinkles to be seen. The closet behind him was stripped clean of clothing, which were his jumpsuits, sleepwear, and underwear. The only thing left to inspect was the picture frame holding the naïve days of Team Seven, when Naruto hated Sasuke for being too good, Sakura fawning over Sasuke, Kakashi being late, and him being reckless. He inspected the photo more, staring at it with reminiscent eyes. Ah, the days where all Naruto needed to worry about was Sasuke…

'_Where did those days go?_' Naruto asked himself while lowering his gaze to the floor. In a sudden spike of anger, he punched his dresser, shaking the picture frame on top of it and the alarm clock beside it. He looked to the photo one last time '_Sasuke…_' He didn't dare finish the thought. It would hinder his resolve right now, and it would be detrimental to his training. He mustn't have these distractions lest he wants wield Caliburn again.

Speaking of Caliburn, how will he use it if it disappeared? He thought of a possible way by focusing on the weapon's appearance. He outstretched his right hand, and resumed his focus. Summoning Caliburn into his right hand, he noticed the golden glow erupt from his palm, where it took the blade's shape. As soon as it was done materializing, he gripped the royal blade embroidered in gold and royal blue. The weight, still present, did not hinder the boy from gripping it with one hand despite the difficulty.

'_Test my resolve, Caliburn._' He thought to himself as he tried to transmit those very same thoughts to the blade, '_If I can't handle the weight you've placed on me, then it means I was never meant to hold you._' He dematerialized the regal blade, disappearing into the same golden glow in which it was created from. He closed the palm that held the sword, and held it like it was still there. He left the room, leaving behind his old self, but kept with him his doubts and wavering resolve. Truly, that sword would test his resolve if he can already feel the burden without the need to summon it. With each step the blonde boy felt the burden, the idea of killing a friend, become heavier.

He shook his head; it wasn't the time to think about those things. He'd be leaving in six hours, and he should spend every last moment enjoying it. With renewed vigor, the boy closed the door to his room with his backpack in tow, and headed towards the front door, where the girls patiently waited for the boy's return.

"Everything done?" Sakura asked her teammate.

With a restrained smile compared to his usual foxy one, Naruto answered, "Yeah. Got everything I need, and the rooms are clean. Sakura-chan…" He handed over a key to the girl, "Take care of the house, will ya?"

"Of course. Can't have your house be a dust-filled dump, can we?"

Naruto narrowed his eyes, "Hmm…" The boy stared the his teammate suspiciously, "Something tells me you already think of my house as a "Dust-filled dump.""

Sakura stiffened at the very true accusation, "N-not at all!" she stammered out in a very weak reply. Naruto narrowed his eyes at that; he knew Sakura thought his place would be a dump. But no matter; hell be away from his home anyway. Why should he care if it's a dump? Sakura will take care of it.

"So! Where are you ladies taking me for the next six hours before I leave?"

* * *

In a forge somewhere in the east side of the village, a Kunoichi just finished her gift. Technically, it wasn't originally supposed to be a farewell gift, but still a gift. She planned on giving it to Naruto as a way to be more inclined to use weapons. He was starting to learn how to use swords so why not other weapons while he's at it? She inspected her craft, smooth, polished, and hopefully, fits like a glove. Well…it _is_ a glove, more specifically, a gauntlet for his left hand. Well at least if it's loose, the seal imprinted on it will make it so that it fits to his size, and as he grows, the gauntlet will grow with him. As for the other gift, the one the little Academy students requested she create in short notice, should be done in about six hours or less. She looked over the oddly specific design.

A visor. Why of all things did the kids want her to make a visor? Moreover, its shape resembles that of a Knight, one of the types of warriors from recorded past. And while it looks like a Knight visor, it also looks like half an ANBU mask that resembles a fox-like appearance… Two eye slits and two tiny protrusions like fangs help solidify that idea. The fact that the kids also want it painted in orange also helps.

"Aww…what's with all the racket, Tenten?" The girl snapped away from her thought to look at her father at the door behind her, "You've been hacking away at the forge for days now. Did someone make a custom order?" The father yawned out his sentence because of Tenten's laborious determination to finish Naruto's gift, which kept him awake till late at night.

"That's right, Dad. I'm making a custom order for a friend of mine."

The father scratched the back of his head, messing up his already unkempt brown hair. He tried to recollect the friend his daughter mentions… "Is it Naruto?"

"Yes, Dad. Didn't I tell you this before? He's leaving today, and I'm trying to get him a farewell present. And a custom order came in yesterday for a Knight visor, also for Naruto." Tenten's father's blue orbs stare out to space. The name strikes a memory, but he can't for the life of him to remember what it is. "Uh…Dad? You still there?"

"Huh? Y-yeah. My bad. Just trying to remember something. By the way, why don't you go upstairs for some breakfast? I'll take over from here; relax a bit." Tenten didn't argue; her stomach rumbled like an earthquake, and her eyes looked like they needed a good amount of shut eye. She left the forge, leaving her father to inspect her work, "Ohoh…so she got the Refitting seal on eh? Useful. But why only one hand?" He flipped the gauntlet to its clothed palm, and noticed another seal etched onto the armor. But before that, he noticed a particular mechanism on the wrist. He wore the gauntlet, and it seemed the refitting seal worked well; it wrapped his left arm in a snug fit. Once again, he examined the mechanism. It looked to work by through the use of a certain muscle in the wrist; he surmised that the muscle hits a button above it that achieves something. He did the action, and the mechanism sprouted a blade that emerged from the mechanism that ran the length of the forearm. A sheath. He continued to examine the work; a weapon worthy of the shadows. Tenten had created such a weapon? "Wondrous," he exclaimed. Her daughter designed her first weapon, and it's a tool many Shinobi would die to get their hands on. This hidden blade…she planned on giving this prototype weapon to Naruto? Seems the boy has developed, even if slightly. He returned his hand to a relaxing angle, and the blade returned to its home. "I have got to find out what Tenten did. Maybe if I ask nicely, I could see blueprints!" He whispered ecstatically. No one reveals the designs of original work in the household; it was an old, family rule that still worked.

He had fun with that toy, so he chose to return his gaze to the seal. Curious, he flared his Chakra onto the seal. All of a sudden, metal expanded at the back of his hand, where it formed an elongated hexagonal shape, a shield. He raised his eyebrows at that. A shield was something rarely seen in the Elemental Nations. Not even Samurai use shields often, if at all. However, he felt yet another mechanism take hold, and this time, it came from inside the shield. It felt top heavy, and the distribution of the weight was somewhat rectangular. If the previous tool was something to go by, this mechanism might be another hidden blade, but much larger and not quite made for assassination kills. He tested that theory, yet did not think of a way to activate the weapon hidden away.

"Hmm…maybe…" He jerked his left arm forward, then immediately retracted it, letting inertia take its hold on the mechanism. And sure enough, Tenten's father hypothesized correctly. A blade similar in shape of the previous work, but much larger, erupted from the top of the shield. "Sheesh! Just pulling out all the stops, huh?" Though he can't blame his daughter; she's a born natural! He moved on to the next product, the visor, the blueprint of it, and noticed how oddly specific the shape is. Like his daughter, he too thought the visor is a mix of a Knight visor and an ANBU mask of a fox.

'_Fox…' _He lingered at the thought… before his head snapped at an epiphany, '_Kushina's Kodachis!_' He ran out of the forge, directing himself to the storage room, where weapons of high-value are kept safe. He rushed to the room, ignoring the fact that he toppled some living room decor as he hurried to the room. Tenten, in the middle of eating, stopped to look at what her father was panicking about. He's never one to panic.

With a sandwich firmly placed in her mouth, she followed her father to investigate what's wrong. And why was he going to the storage room of all places? As she got closer to the room, she could hear, "Not there! Maybe…no. It should be here! What? Where is it?" She peeked inside, her head only visible if one were to look at her from inside the room. It almost seems comical for a blacksmith Kunoichi to keep a sandwich in her mouth and not bother chewing the food.

"What's wrong, Dad?" She asked, taking the sandwich away from her mouth.

"I'm looking for a pair of Kodachi's, Tenten. Spiral guards, white leather wrapping a red handle. white sheathes. Do you recognize anything with a description like that?"

Tenten answered, "Yep! I know just what you're looking for." She walked right next to her father, and slammed her left foot on a loose floorboard with the force of an elephant, and broke the board upon impact, launching a pair of Kodachis her father described. Tenten's father caught the pair of blades, and placed it on an empty shelf next to him. He picked up a note, addressed to the child of Kushina Uzumaki. Tenten looked at the note in slight shock, but mostly awe. Her family held one of the most famous Kunoichi's swords? She felt giddy on the inside; next to Tsunade, Kushina, one of the most renowned Kenjutsu practitioners in the Elemental Nations, inspired her to be a Kunoichi worthy to be placed on the history books.

But wait…Kushina Uzumaki's child…Uzumaki…Naruto…

"N-NARUTO'S KUSHINA-SAMA'S CHIL-MMPH!" Her father silenced her with his hand on her mouth, and his head shaking in disagreement. She understood; this is meant to be secret. But why? Why was Naruto left in the dark about his mother? Who's Naruto's father? Her questions stack on each other like a tower, and her father could see it in her hyperactive eye movement.

"Kushina…asked me to make her a pair of Kodachi's for her child. She asked me a week before she died. She asked me before she died on the night of the Kyuubi attack." A growing silence wrapped around the room, "I finished it the day of the attack; the day Kushina died. I was too wrapped up in my despair; I lost a dear friend. If she died, then surely her child faced the same fate. But then I remembered…Naruto was given the name Uzumaki. No one gives the Uzumaki clan name to a nameless orphan."

"Are you sure that it's him?"

"I told you, no one just places the Uzumaki name on an orphan."

* * *

"So…how did we go from taking a gentle stroll in the park to chasing after Tora?" Naruto asked nonchalantly. Sakura and Ino, who instigated the chase of the rampaging Demon cat, ignored the blonde, male genin. The two had personal vendettas against the cat…petty girls. Describing such pettiness could take all night, and even then, we'd barely scratch the surface. But never mind that. Back in the action, Tora, the brown cat with carnation stripes, swerved to the right, evading the charging Kunoichi pair by hiding under a market stand. The girls' forward momentum caused them to trip the moment they turned. At that moment, Tora jumped out of her hiding place, and pounced on the fallen Kunoichis.

Naruto intercepted the animal, and he kept the cat close to his chest, "Gotcha!" He announced. But it was a fruitless victory because the feline retaliated as quick as lightning; she scratched her captor's face, and forced Naruto to release her. "Gah! That stings!" He exclaimed as his arms loosened to caress his face. Oh how he remembered the feeling. It irritated him to no end. Why can't he stop reminiscing?

The cat landed softly; it sprinted off, leaving a dust trail and screaming Shinobi and Kunoichi in its path of destruction (caused by the Shinobi corps). "Darn it! Sakura! Ino! We'll split up. We're going to corner the cat…" He growled. _Now's not the time for a trip down memory lane! _That cat is causing tons of trouble, and he had to do something about it! He sprinted in the direction Tora took, and he only got faster as the annoying memories of Sasuke in the early days of Team Seven resurfaced. "Get back here, you damn TIGER!" He yelled at a volume even Sakura's level could not achieve; to many senior Shinobi and Kunoichi, the volume sparked off a memory that shook their spines.

With vigor in his step, Naruto chased after the cat as an orange blur. He jumped at a wall with his feet sticking on it. Running sideways from a right-side-up perspective, Naruto followed the cat, his annoyance building up like a dam holding water. The runaway cat could be seen scurrying in the distance, disturbing the peace.

Inside Naruto's mind, Archer, Rider, and Lancer were amused by the chase. It seems their Master could be petty. They ignored the fact that Naruto is venting out a tad bit of frustration on an animal, but, in the words of Lancer, "Better that the cat gets it than me." The blue spearman had no qualms at all. Why should he care about a cat with the mystical nine lives -not the Noble Phantasm- when he himself doesn't have the semblance of multiple lives? He reminded himself of his Luck rank…

"What? Afraid you'd die with your rank E Luck, Lancer?" Archer joked.

"Don't even start with that, Archer. I think I'm more cat than dog with all the times I've 'died' in Carnival Phantasm." Then Lancer realized what he said, and before he could deny any accusation, Archer sneered.

"So you _are _a dog!"

"I-I didn't mean it like that, Archer!"

"But you _are_ beastly." Rider commented, inspecting the spearman's appearance, "You have to admit that at least, right 'Culann's Savage Dog?'" The Irish Child of Light let out a 'tch' in annoyance. "But going back to that cat comment about yourself… that Battle Continuation skill of yours is quite fearsome. Have fair maidens experienced it?" Rider's sultry voice seemed to mock Lancer, and he knew what the pirate meant with that last sentence.

"Of course-"

"Not." Archer finished for Lancer.

"Hey! Don't put words in my mouth!"

Meanwhile, back in the real world, Naruto was on the warpath. The Shinobi aiding in giving chase saw that. While to many civilians, this is yet another routine chase for the cat, none of them saw how increasingly irritated Naruto became. It seemed like he was on the verge of unleashing the Kyuubi to smite the destructive feline. But more than that, the level of irritation and anger Naruto displayed almost seemed parallel to one other Uzumaki that once inhabited the village. Almost instantly, it clicked!

Take out the blonde hair and replace it with red, add in the pranking tendencies, and liveliness of Kushina, many saw the boy's mother in him. It did help the fact that the same deathly aura Kushina used to exude when pissed off radiated the same way when Naruto uses it during the chase. Many swear they saw the signature silhouette of nine, thick strands of hair flowing wildly along with the wild temper Naruto showed as he chased after the cat like the Shinigami wants the animal's soul in its collection. Though there were a few nonbelievers in the group. To cement the idea that Naruto is Kushina's son, the idiots tempted fate. And to tempt fate, they cheered, "You almost got her, Tomato!"

Something inside Naruto forced him to stop. This divine will made the genin stop in his tracks, shown with the evidence of plate-sized, webbed craters. However, one does not simply stop instantly. Due to physics, forward momentum made the boy trip, launching himself into a can of red paint. His hair, acting like a paintbrush, soaked up the paint in the can, turning his sun-kissed hair a familiar hue. Chunins, Jounins, and some roaming ANBU shivered at the sight of red paint dripping from Naruto's once blonde hair. Naruto's body shook, his eyes twitched madly, and he visibly released steam. This annoyance from the mere name-calling of "Tomato" irked him more so than the cat and the reminiscing. Something inside his very existence just commanded him to do something about the insult! To show his anger, Kyuubi aided him in changing his eyes to red. He turned to the offending Shinobi and yelled, "**WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?!**"

"You done fucked up now, Fuko! You and Meiwakuna!" Yelled out by one of the Chunins.

"_Master!_" Saber yelled in his head, "_You must not waste time on these idiots._" Naruto momentarily halted, his anger subsiding slightly. It must sound weird for the regal and just Knight, Saber to call Shinobi such a derogatory word like 'Idiot.' He turned around, but not before giving the offending Shinobi one heated glare. He continued his chase like many of the other Shinobi have done. The Chunins, Fuko and Meiwakuna, stared dumbfounded; they saw the Shinigami in the boy's eyes, and the boy did nothing but glare at the two as a passing moment. The gesture itself was almost enough to make them piss their pants with the amount of anger he exuded.

Inside Naruto's head, Archer examined the new hair color his Master sported. It doesn't match his jumpsuit, but with a slight haircut and makeup, he actually thought that the boy could look like the way he was in the past. He could do without the "Tomato" insult though. It irritated him too, seeing as he was a redhead in the past. He might just give his Master ideas on ways to get back at the Chunins.

"Ohoh…our Master has a bit of fire in him." Rider stated; she seemed amused by the reaction, "With the emotions and reactions I keep seeing, I might just ask Master to pay my services with his entertaining expressions!" Archer sweatdropped at the avaricious Rider, but she can't help it; a pirate cannot be called a pirate without the staple loot. Caster walked by, stopping next to Rider.

"Hmm…what's this? Trying to monopolize Master's cute expressions?! **UNACCEPTABLE!**" The sheer volume was enough to turn any person deaf; however, the killer intent she unleashed along with that yell was enough to terrorize the gods. Even Inari cowered -says a lot about the god, doesn't it? Besides the god, Archer, Lancer, and Berserker stiffened. They tried to run, but they were plastered in place. The female's wrath made the men stick to the floor they stood on like industrial Gorilla glue. Archer tried to calm down the angered Caster, but the experience brought about some…frightening memories about…Alter Saber. That was one cold night in hell.

"Eh? You trying to pick a fight, Trophy Wife?"

"I won't be just some trophy wife! I will be the best wife in the world!"

In the background, Saber asked herself, '_Wait…wasn't the topic about monopolizing Naruto's facial expressions? Why did it become about being a wife all of a sudden?_' Her confused expression held a small hint of hypocrisy for she too experienced this type of 'rivalry' when it came to Shirou's heart. She forgot the details, but she's sure that she let Alter take over for a bit to let her handle the dispute against Rin and Sakura. After that, she surmised everything had gone well. Rin and Sakura became more…tame, if she remembered correctly. Despite that, her confusion, settled in as the more important detail. The transition from 'monopolizing facial expressions' to 'wife' is hard to ignore. Kyuubi shared the feeling Saber had, but prioritized trying to get rid of the loud annoyance in its domain; it failed, causing the Chakra beast to cry silently and bitterly.

Assassin sighed. The girls could be quite rowdy when they want to be. Thankfully, their Master isn't hearing this petty squabble, or it would be quite the headache placed upon their Master. It doesn't take a genius to understand that this argument would not go well if it did reach their Master's consciousness.

Alter Ego laughed at the childishness Caster displayed. True to Rider's words, it's entertaining to see their Master's various expressions, both positive and negative ones. It's nice to see some rage rather than that naive smile he continues to flare. It could get quite annoying and overbearing at times, but it did have its innocent charm to it that Alter Ego could not ignore. She's tempted to say that she likes the red hair her Master sported.

Ruler sighed. What could she express about the scene? She agreed with Caster -barely- but even so, she really couldn't describe the scene without coming off as just as childish as the arguing women. The regal woman sighed once more, not wanting to see the scene further develop; she jumped in saying, "That's enough, ladies. Thou must keep thy tongues in check, lest I rip it out to quell such immature behavior." Caster stared at Ruler, analyzing the woman's threat. Caster reluctantly stops the argument, if only to not be on the receiving end of Ruler's iron fist of discipline.

"Must you do that, Ruler? The fun was about to start!" Alter Ego yelled at the French Knight.

"It was necessary, Alter Ego. We mustn't encourage these acts; we're Heroic Spirits. What would Master think about us if we're like this?"

"Hm…fair enough."

"Get back here ya stupid cat!" Naruto yelled. Tora just jumped yet another market stand, causing food to fly all over the place. Some had opted to place traps in front of the cat while the main force led the feline into those traps. However, the animal somehow knew that there would be traps, and she evaded them as if nothing was there. The same can't be said for some of the Shinobi chasing after the cat too. They're not mad though; they have an excuse as to why they aren't chasing after the demon cat. And besides, it's kind of spices up life to see themselves springing their own trap for once.

Ino and Sakura went ahead, planting traps on the ground. They were furious at the cat, but it seems the animal's owner still hasn't learned to properly pet a cat. Either that, or the owner wants the Shinobi corps to suffer and experience the deepest of despair. Sakura planted tripwires that fire off four kunai into the ground, and on each handle, a rope connecting to the net would capture the terrorizing feline.

"Are you ready with that trap, Sakura?" Ino asked her friend. Giving a thumbs up, Sakura jumped away from the trap. In the distance, the screams of terror signaled Tora's approach. It would be only moments until the troublesome animal would caught.

Or so did Sakura thought. The cat simply skipped over the wire. Not once did it acknowledge the fact that there was a trap right there. And to make things worse, Tora jumped towards Sakura's hiding place. "Ahhhhhhh!" The cat scratched the medical trainee Kunoichi on the face, causing her cover her face and to stumble forwards from a loose foothold. As consequence, she lands on top of her trap instead. The mechanism springs, sending four kunai at Sakura's sides with her caught in the net. If it was any other day, Ino would've laughed at the sight of her best friend captured in her own trap. That wasn't today.

"The cat didn't hurt you too bad, right Forehead?" Into said as she jumped and landed next to her friend. She removed the throwable weapons and grabbed her friend's hands to pull her up. Sakura would have retaliated with a snarky remark of her own, however, her fury for the cat was more important than the snide insult her friend usually gave.

"Sakura-chan, Ino, did the cat pass by here?" Naruto asked the two Kunoichi.

The girls nodded, and Ino pointed behind her as she said, "The cat went that way." The blonde Master nodded and sprinted off once more. She turned to Sakura, "C'mon, Forehead, we can't have Naruto have all the fun."

* * *

In the distance, Akamaru, a small, white dog, and a companion of the Inuzuka clan, barked repeatedly. Kiba Inuzuka, Akamaru's master, looked worried that his partner. The hooded genin kneeled on one knee, petting his dog while asking, "What's the matter Akamaru?" The dog barked some more, not showing signs of stopping. Hinata kept her hands together keeping them close to her chin. She looked afraid to say something, yet she suggested a possible reason why Akamaru kept barking.

"Maybe he senses a threat?"

"That would be a logical explanation for it." Shino answered, "Judging by the ruckus going on in the village, it must be _that_ kind of threat." Kiba stared at his teammate, wondering what threat he's talking about. If it's big enough to warrant the mobilization of most of the Shinobi corps, then it must be quite the fearsome foe. Said 'fearsome foe' dashed past the group as a brown blur. Akamaru snapped his head towards the blur to bark at it, and chase after it.

Kiba looked shocked, "Woah! A-Akamaru! Wait up!" He saw his partner in crime follow the speedy object before they disappeared into the crowd. Seeing as he couldn't be an irresponsible partner, Kiba chased after Akamaru with the intent to know what that blur was. Hinata followed suit as did Shino to keep the Inuzuka team together and out of trouble.

* * *

Minutes later, Chouji, who was Shikamaru to run an errand for Asuma, ate snacks while brining a bucket of ice and two bags of popcorn. Chouji, being the hungry one in the group, wondered why Asuma wanted them to buy something so party related. Oh wait…it's for Naruto's farewell party. But why popcorn? That hardly seems to be a suitable menu for a party. Other than that, people kept giving the Akimichi strange looks ever since they got the stuff they needed. He turned to Shikamaru, and asked, "What's with people giving me strange looks today?"

"Well for starters, you have a bucket of ice firmly planted on your head. Second of all, you're moving your head with such ease that it looks like the bucket is stuck to your head, and lastly, you're eating chips like this is a common occurrence for you." Shikamaru replied while holding two large bags of popcorn, "Isn't your head cold at all?"

"Not in particular, no not really." Chouji admitted, "Why should it be?" Shikamaru sighed deeply. He didn't have time for this; they just need to get the stuff back to Asuma. Just as he was ready to move again, a brown blur tackled Chouji's bag of snacks. The Akimichi was left with empty hands where his snacks should be. Shikamaru prepared for the worst; no one must desecrate Chouji snacks, or they face his wrath. He tried to calm Chouji down, "C-Chouji…stay calm, okay?" The stout young man grabbed his bucket of ice from his head and planted it firmly on the ground. He gave a sickly, sweet smile towards his best friend while giving a massive amount of killer intent around the area.

"I'm calm, Shikamaru. I'm perfectly calm. I'm just going to go **RIP OUT THAT CAT'S GUTS!**" The Akimichi yelled. Shikamaru reeled back from the volume; he should've expected that, but he had a slight hope Chouji could be a bit more mature. A second later, Chouji ran after the cat he mentioned. Shikamaru contemplated whether or not he should follow Chouji, but he made up his mind when Akamaru, followed by Kiba, Hinata, Shino, Naruto, Sakura, Ino, and many more Shinobi chase after a…cat. He had a feeling he knew which cat the large group kept chasing.

"I better get paid for this…such a drag." He dropped his two large bags of popcorn to chase after the group, and aid in Tora's capture.

* * *

In a random rooftop, Asuma, Team Ten's Jounin instructor, sat drinking sake along with Kakashi and Jiraiya. The son of the late Third Hokage sat on a rail while being entertained by the spectacle of a village-scale mobilization to capture a _cat._ The last time such a scale occurred during the Kyuubi attack, but this once was more mischief than slaughter and mindless destruction. Kakashi thought the same as he lowered his mask to take a swig of his cup of sakē.

"We're running out of sakē, but I got us a twelve pack of beer." Jiraiya said to the Jounins. The entertained Jounins smirked, but realized Chouji and Shikamaru haven't brought the stuff Asuma asked for. They needed the beer cold; not lukewarm! Sensing distraught, Jiraiya calmed the Jounins down as he said, "Don't worry, they're fresh from the refrigerator, so its still cold. Now let's watch some mayhem unfold!" Kakashi and Asuma grabbed a bottle of beer and popped off the bottle cap to cheer at the spectacle.

After their first chug of their drinks, Asuma looked to Kakashi, "Aren't you going to show your face to your students soon?" Kakashi pondered the question, but only answered with a smirk, "You're sadistic, Kakashi…"

"I dunno about that. Naruto has got you beat with that death stare several minutes ago. Guess some idiot unknowingly brought out Kushina's hate of the nickname to manifest her soul through her kid." Jiraiya commented.

Kakashi groaned, still leaving his mask down, "Don't remind me. Kushina-sama's rage still lingers in my soul…"

Asuma sneered, "So there _is _something that scares you besides the destruction of your porn collection!" Kakashi sighed.

* * *

In the Hokage office, Tsunade wasn't having the time of her life compared to the drinking Sannin and Jounins. She called Madam Shijimi, Tora's owner, to an intervention; she needed to learn how to _properly _pet a cat! To say Tsunade is irritated would be an understatement of the year. She can't even take a swig of alcohol because she has to be _professional_ in front of the woman that owns the problem, which wastes her Shinobi's precious time and talent and her break time! The woman must have a extremely good reason for giving her a constant headache because she's ready to bust her desk in half along with the floor.

"So…Madam Shijimi, can you tell me _why _your cat is on a _rampage_ yet again?" Tsunade asked with her eyes twitching madly to contain her anger. Add on to the rapid tap of her index finger hitting the desk, she visibly furious. Madam Shijimi wanted to just hide in her home with the way Tsunade stared at her. After waiting for an answer for five minutes, Tsunade heard no excuse whatsoever; he rage boiled even more. "Learn to take care of your cat, woman!"

* * *

"What's with the disturbance in the village?" Lee asked. The green jumpsuit-wearing boy stared at the pillars of smoke and heard the screams of terror. It warranted his attention, seeing as there shouldn't be terrified screams in the village. Neji neglected the noise in the background because he prioritized his clan's katas on a tree. The noise continued on longer than it should, and the Hyuuga stopped and turned to Lee, who stopped training to listen to the background chaos.

"Pay no mind to it, Lee." Neji, who leaned on a tree to relax, told his teammate, "It must be a Tora chase."

Lee perked up at the hypothesis, "A Tora chase? Then I must aid in its capture! I can already feel it, my youthful energy is telling me that I must-"

"No, you don't, Lee. Have you heard of the phrase, 'Mind your own business'? If so, then let the people who've accepted the job in capturing Tora do their job without our aid." Lee looked somber; he wanted to help. His youthfulness won't allow him to stay by idly. He must help!

A figure lands next to Lee, the figure's appearance looking parallel to the boy's. His voice boomed, "Well done, Lee! Your eyes say everything; you want to help in capturing the destructive Tora. Your youthful blood boils for the challenge. As your Jounin instructor, I will allow you to go. Let your youthfulness SHINE in front of your peers!" The Jounin, Gai, bared his teeth in a blinding smile. Lee saluted enthusiastically; his face shone brighter than the sun.

"Thank you, Gai-sensei! I will do you proud in showing the power of youth!"

"Well said, Lee! Now go!"

"Yes, Gai-sensei!"

"C'mon, Neji. Onward, we go!" Lee shouted while grabbing the collar of Neji's shirt. It took the Hyuuga several seconds to figure out what was happening while he stared at his relaxing area quickly blending into the background.

"Eh? Eh? EEEEEHHHHHHHH?! Lee! Put me down!"

* * *

"Hey, Tora! Get back here!" Naruto yelled with his hair still covered in red paint. He furiously chased the cat on every nook and cranny, every road and alley, and every room and hallway without remorse for the destruction left in his path. Many civilians saw his red hair, thinking Kushina had returned; his rage certainly seemed to befit that level. Word had already spread that the hair-trigger personality of Kushina was certainly there when it came to being called 'Tomato'.

The redhead summoned his clones, twenty of them to keep the cat cornered. He unconsciously strategized his clones' positions, preventing the feline's multiple possible escape routes. He was leading the cat to the Hokage mansion. It looked successful in the eyes of Naruto's Servants. Archer smiled at Naruto's use of the environment to lure his prey to the area he wants, and Archer, who already memorized the layout of the village during his roaming around at night, already had plans to teach his Mastery archery to maximize his Master's observation skills.

Kiba and Akamaru literally drilled past Naruto. Kiba sneered, "Nice hair, Tomato!" while he and his dog use their clan's juts to chase after the cat. Again, Naruto snapped, and again, Archer sighed; he needed to do something to those Shinobi insulting the hair. Seriously, what is wrong with red hair? It's not like they're…oh…right. Back in his timeline, there was that particularly false claim about redheads. Archer guessed this is how people here prefer to call redheads here. Though he wouldn't mind shooting an arrow at them.

Naruto's clones paid attention to Kiba. Instantly, the doppelgängers dog-piled on the dog lover. Though the moment before that, Lee, still dragging Neji around, sprinted at the dog-piling Narutos, and couldn't stop at all. In turn, Lee scored a strike, sending all the Naruto clones airborne as well as Kiba and Akamaru. Chouji's rollout didn't make things any better. Naruto, Lee, Kiba, Akamaru, and Neji couldn't even scream, "AAAAAHHHHH!" when Chouji bulldozed on them.

The Konoha rookies were stunned. While they've been trained for this, none of them actually expected chaos like this to happen on home turf. The more experienced Chunin and Jounin were wiser in that regard, and it became more prevalent when they remembered the infamous Uzumaki temper that many who bear or are related to the Uzumaki name have. Tsunade is a living testament to that -might as well add Naruto to the list too.

Anyways, The mentioned _victims_ of Chouji's rampage laid rather comfortably in their personalized body imprints in the concrete. They didn't move at all. Not a single twitch rattled their battle-trained bodies. Hinata, Ino, Sakura, and several recent additions like Iruka and the Konohamaru corps stared blankly at the defeated bodies of the male rookies. Konohamaru and his friends however…paid more attention to the brightly-haired individual that once had blonde hair. Moegi, the girl of the group, found it fascinating to see hair just as bright as hers, if not more vibrant than hers in the intensity of the color. Udon, the brains, wiped his nose and adjust his glasses to take a closer look at the substance dripping off Naruto's hair. Konohamaru himself smirked; he had blackmail material he could use against his rival!

Archer noticed that condescending grin the little boy gave, and it unnerved him. He had half a mind that the smirk Konohamaru gave would be a familiar running gag for a while. And, with the hint of clairvoyance, Archer successfully guessed Konohamaru's next words.

"Nice hair you got there, To-" Before the Sarutobi child could finish his sentence, Naruto punched the kid on the chin, making the boy topple backwards. It wasn't a punch knockout worthy, but forceful enough to send the boy on his butt. Moegi and Udon rush to Konohamaru's side to check if he's okay. The Sarutobi sat up, his right hand on the ground to support his position and his left hand to rub the area he got hit on, "What was that fo-"Konohamaru didn't finish his sentence once again. He merely fainted upon seeing Naruto's heated glare. And again, Moegi and Udon check on their friend's status by shaking the boy.

Naruto purged himself out of his crater, and picked up dust as he rose. He dusted himself off, using his hands to pat his jumpsuit, and then shook his body to remove any remaining dirt or dust on his person. Once done, he inspected himself and nodded at his somewhat presentable look. He turned around; didn't look at Konohamaru at all because he needed to catch that despicable cat.

* * *

Tenten sat at the kitchen table rethinking her views on Naruto. While it was on the verge of changing with how the boy changed interests in fighting style, her preferred style: weapons. He even showed a bit of Shinobi traits that time he spotted her Ino and Hinata.

'_Must be a late bloomer…_' She thought, '_If he's now only understanding the skills needed to be a Shinobi._' All the while, Tenten stared at the twin Kodachis on the table. Her father was on the other side, sharpening and polishing the unused blade. She crossed her arms, enraptured at the sight of such a fine blade. She hoped that she could forge one of such quality; her father was trained by one of the best blacksmiths of Iron Country, and his handiwork presents her father's skill in metalwork. The white wraps along with the red give stark contrast that befits Naruto's choice of color. Added with the gleaming metallic silver, it might make the boy a bit deadlier. Now if the Genin could learn how to properly use blades, then that 'might' can turn to 'will'.

With a keen eye as sharp as the blades' edge, Tenten's father commented on his daughter's increasing interest of Naruto's soon-to-be swords. "You sure are fixated on these huh, Teddy?" Caught in the act, Tenten slightly blushed for being too interested in the Kodachis and for being called 'Teddy' by her father. She silently fumed, whereas her father lightly chuckled at his angered daughter.

"How many times have I told you to not call me that?" Tenten asked in restrained anger.

"Hm…about ah for the 538th time, Teddy." Tenten's father could not hide his smirk, causing much more ire from his daughter. Though Tenten had to admit, her father was right on the money with the number of times she's given the exact same sentence.

Suddenly, the father and daughter heard footsteps coming down. When the person arrived, she rubbed her eyes. "Aw…What's with all the ruckus this morning?" She muttered exhaustedly. The woman had short, brown hair that stopped just at her neck. Her bangs, situated at the sides of her face stopped slightly lower than her chin. Her angular face and smooth skin shone along with her supple lips that showed hints of drool to cement the idea that she's exhausted. The disheveled nightgown also supported the claim.

"Ah…good morning, Asuka." Tenten's father greeted.

"Good morning, Tetsu."

"G'morning, Mom!"

"Good morning Tenten. Now can anyone tell me about the ruckus outside?"

"Ruckus? Like what?" Tenten asked.

"Oh I don't know…like a cat chase, a human bowling ball, screams of terror…" Tetsu, the father, sighed at how his wife became so accustomed to the occasional disturbance in the village, and to be honest, he can be on the same category. It has been far too long since he felt any true disturbances. He surmised that the _ruckus_ outside is probably nothing to big to worry about, a thought his daughter did not share.

Tenten stormed out of the house, determined to find out what's happening at seven in the friggin' morning! She didn't even say a quick goodbye to say she'd go out. She even- "D-did our daughter just…?"

"Yep…she left in her pajamas." Asuka answered. Tetsu leaned on a hand, and groaned inwardly. He needed to fix his daughter's habit of rushing things without thinking when far too curious. He followed her with his daughter's usual clothes in hand. When he got there, Tenten stayed by the door, staring at quite a scene: Chouji's clan technique, which turns him into a human bowling ball, was halted by Tsunade with one hand. Needless to say, the father and daughter were stunned speechless. Asuka reached the door as well and reacted the same way as her husband and daughter did.

"Geez…" Tsunade sighed, "Couldn't you guys capture the cat normally? What warranted the use of such a destructive technique, Akimichi?"

"U-um…"

"TORA!" Yelled a familiar voice, "Where in the hell are ya?!" He landed next to the blonde Hokage, and momentarily stopped, "Baa-chan, did you spot that blasted cat go this way?" Tsunade nodded, but despite the response, she hardly knew the proper direction the feline went. Moreover, she sparked an interest in the boy's new hair color. It reminded her of Kushina a lot; the attitude…yeah, he's her son all right. Tetsu and Asuka thought the same. When they heard of the child's exploits, they knew that Naruto only needed red hair to really be considered as Kushina's child; the attitude, the pranks, the bottomless pit of energy, and severely optimistic smile were qualities he inherited from her mother. It almost made them wish the woman was still alive to see this child act just like her. Tenten wondered how the blonde Genin had his hair turn red. With that orange jumpsuit, it did not fit his general appearance.

"Um…Teddy? You really should change into some more appropriate clothes." Tenten looked down, and immediately blushed. She scurried to grab the clothes in her father's hands before returning inside.

After receiving general directions, Naruto leapt away in an attempt to once again reach the cat. Inside his mind, Saber had enough of the chase. She'd help her Master retrieve the domesticated brethren of the lion. "_Master, go to an alley. I wish to help you catch Tora._"

"_Eh? Really, Saber? You'd do that?_"

"_I do all that I must to serve my Master._" Saber replied, "_Even if it means doing the most menial of tasks._"

"_The way you state 'menial tasks' suggest that you already experienced helping in such tasks._" Naruto stated, hearing the tone of his Servant's voice, "_Care to tell me what those menial tasks are?_" Saber silenced and scolded herself. She did not want the Maid Uniform event come back to haunt her again. Why did she have to follow Illya's suggestion to get a job to buy Shirou a gift? Damn Gilgamesh... He made the humiliation worse with him constantly trying to court her. It was not a happy memory, seeing as she let Alter take control.

Though the takeaway from that experience is that she knew what Gilgamesh liked in a woman -not that she's into him at all. No! She does not like that man."_Let's not talk about that, Master. It's a memory I'm not fond of reliving. Capturing a cat is far more gratifying than what I've experienced._" Saber explained. Naruto looked skeptical, narrowing his eyes to see any deceit in Saber. Thankfully, he saw none, and smiled; he'd comply with Saber's request.

"Okay, Saber." Naruto answered. He stopped at an alley, and let Saber appear next to him in a golden glow with the intensity of the sun. Naruto had to cover his eyes from the blinding sight; maybe he could suggest a less brighter alternative than that.

Saber appeared from the golden glow in clothing in the same style as a old dojo master, which was a white kimono and a dark blue hakama. '_How did she even get those clothes?_' Naruto finally wondered as his teacher always wore that whenever they sparred.

"Hm? Is there something wrong, Master?" Saber queried.

Naruto waved his hands and shook his head, "Not really. Though you could tone down the materialization a notch; the brightness of it anyway." Saber nodded, understanding the underlying meaning of her Master's words: She'll be spotted. "And where did you get those clothes?"

"It was given to me."

"I see. Well then, are you ready to capture Tora?" Saber smiled and nodded. This was honestly better than the maid uniform event or the bickering by the girls inside their Master's mindscape. Saber bowed, signaling her departure to retrieve the mischievous animal her Master struggled to catch.

"If I may, Master?"

* * *

Not even five minutes later, Saber returns with the cat purring in her arms. The swordswoman held the cat as if it was a mere child, and she petted it so naturally that many thought it was a genjutsu she conjured up to show a extremely domesticated Tora. The most interesting reaction came from Naruto himself, who had his mouth wide open so wide, the cat could fit in there.

"H-how?" Her Master stuttered. Saber raised an eyebrow at the reactions, but mostly at her Master's incredulous look. One boy with red fang cheek marks held a white dog back from trying to maul the cat to death. A stout young man with strange headgear was restrained by a ponytailed young man, who held his hands together to somehow restrain the stout young man.

"Is there something wrong, Naruto?" Saber wondered.

"Ah! N-nothing, Saber-sensei. But what did you do to catch Tora?" Shinobi corralling the woman looked shocked that the boy gained yet another teacher. Rumor has it that he's being trained by Jiraiya himself, and he has a woman like her to teach him.

Saber beamed a smile, "That is a secret," Saber stated. She looked giddy seeing her Master's reaction like that. She could now see what the girls were talking about. To add ire in her Master's face, she continued by ending the sentence by addressing her Master as, "Tomato!"

Without warning, Naruto charged at Saber with the intent on hurting her for insulting him with a derogatory name like that. Saber already expected a violent reaction like that, and proceeded to bring out the wooden sword, Torashinai, to slap her Master's right cheek as a means to parry him away from her.

"Dead." Saber smugly stated while Naruto lay unconscious.

Behind her, Saber felt an ominous feeling crawl into her spine. Judging from the reactions of bystanders, they felt that same feeling invading their systems as well. They cringed just as bad as if they ate something rotten. The woman wondered what caused his hate to be targeted towards her. She turned around, and saw a shadowy figure, larger than a full-grown lion, glare with malice. On the shadowy figure's head, nine strands of hair, tentacles, _something_ swished wildly as she definitely saw the apparition roar at her. She didn't react at all; she merely stared at the sight, not even slightly shocked by the event -unlike the pansies behind her, squealing like babies.

"Okay, Saber-san." Tsunade interrupted, "As much as I'd like to talk some more outside my office, we must discuss some things in it. One, we need to return the pet to its owner, and two, talk about Naruto's apprenticeship." Saber nodded. She walked over Naruto's unconscious body, and dragged the boy by his collar all the way to the office.

"_Hmph. Didn__'__t think you had it in you to insult our Master, Saber._" Archer said to the woman telepathically, "_For you to insult our Master, and to even mock the hair color__…__I am frankly disappointed._"

"_Disappointed?_"

"_I thought as you once were a King, you__'__d be above insulting someone. The fact that you mocked a hair color -on our Master of all people- you__…__you just simply disappoint me, Saber._"

"_And a King can__'__t learn to earn a tiny bit of amusement?_" Saber countered.

"_Entertainment is fine. Insulting the hair is another. It__'__d be wise to remember what my original hair color used to be. Calling Master __'__Tomato__' __not only is an insult to our Master, but also strikes a tiny nerve with me. Do it again, and I might reconsider retrying to trace Excalibur as a means to smite you for doing so._"

"_You wouldn__'__t._"

"_Oh I can be very stubborn if I want to be, Saber._" Archer vaguely replied. He whispered, "_How the mighty have fallen__… __I expected you to not stop so low. I guess even the most noble of Kings has to insult a person like a peasant at some point in their lives._" He ended the conversation, letting his threat linger in Saber's thoughts like a sticky note.

'_He wouldn__'__t do such a thing, right?_' Saber doubted herself, '_Surely he know__'__s it__'__s foolish to think of even trying to recreate my sword, the Sword of Promised Victory._' Even if Archer can produce a copy, his would only be marginally stronger than Caladbolg. What would be a beam of light would only be an aura of gold bathing that copy before exploding the area into a dome of radiant beams. If Master pours Mana into Archer, could it possibly be stronger, and produce a medium-ranged beam? She hoped not. Master would eventually gain her swords, recreate his own version of Archer's Reality Marble, earn Gae Bolg, commandeer Rider's fleet, learn to earn the goddess of the Sun's blessings, learn the Zabaniya techniques, master any and all weapons he touches, become a god-like force with brutal punches and kicks, and scar the land with a sword wreathed in flames. Truly, her Master would become a shadow that will eventually be bigger than his Servants' legends. The title would be lost in concept to the point she believed that only other Servants would understand the name. '_Eiyu no Kage__…__Shadow of Heroes._'

"_Aww look at you making a title for our Master._" Lancer cooed. "_It brings tears to my eyes to see you spark a legend, Saber. It__'__s like the opposite of Merlin; you are already planning his legend!_"

"_I am not, Lancer. If anything, Kyuubi is the spark. The beast is the holder of our catalysts, and the one who made our Master a Master. I__'__m simply finding a fitting title for the boy. After all, the criteria to master a Servant is for Master to use our Noble Phantasms. In simple terms, he__'__s a shadow. And unlike Archer, he__'__ll have genuine Noble Phantasms in his arsenal._" Saber explained herself with a proper counterargument. With that thinking. Lancer submitted. The spearman had to admit that it was a sound rebuttal. On the plus side, he thought the title was catchy and fit their Master's situation quite well. The other Servants thought the same as well.

* * *

The blondes and one redhead were in Tsunade's office. Saber returned Tora to her owner with a few key tips on how to pet a cat properly. Madam Shijimi accepted the advice Saber gave, and tried to act upon them by caressing the cat in a way that the cat wouldn't be aggravated by the touch. Naruto hoped the cat won't misbehave again because he had half a mind to put

"Well Naruto, how are you doing?" Tsunade asked, trying to start a conversation.

"Fine."

"What's wrong? The hair?" Tsunade guessed. Naruto huffed angrily; the 'Tomato' moniker still pissed him off for some reason, and he doesn't know why. All the while, Tsunade looked amused at Naruto's frustrated look. No doubt the boy wondered why he's angry at being called 'Tomato.' "While it brings interesting old memories, I want to know what's bothering you." She answered honestly, and hoped that the Genin would respond to her naturally. Naruto heard this, yet did not answer to Tsunade's request, "Please?" She persistently pleaded.

"Pervy-Sage told me we wouldn't go on a training trip until three months, then told me he lied, and that we'd go today." Naruto answered, "If I remember correctly, he'd tell me if there were any change of plans. But he hid it this time. Why is that?" He wondered out loud, "The only guess I have is that you ordered him to take me out of the village. Since you're the one that can issue an order, a mission, or allow extended leave from the village."

"Where'd you get that idea?" Tsunade asked.

"You're the only one he talks to about these things. And besides, I have to learn at least some responsibilities a Hokage has." Naruto stated the obvious, earning a small snicker from the laid back Lancer because of his Master's ignorance to authority. The Hokage sighed. It seems Naruto had become more aware of details such as these. Whatever Saber taught the boy served to do wonders for Naruto's development.

Tsunade snickered, "You…t-talking about responsibilities? W-wow! Pfftahaha! That's the end of the world right there if _you_ of all people are talking about 'responsibilities.' Hahahahah!" The Senju woman obviously thought Naruto's statement was a joke. She was slamming her desk quite loud. Her voice (laugh) echoed in the room, and the people not Tsunade, covered their ears to protect them. Saber didn't think the same as the Senju, but that's because she didn't know her Master unlike these people. She at least knew that her Master is quite immature -severely so upon summoning- but even he showed a tiny bit of maturity during the event.

Caster took a major offense from the laughing Senju. Her Master could be responsible anytime he wants to be! She continued to brag false accusations about how he can handle the politics, the economics, and so on, and so forth until Assassin, the soft-spoken Servant out of the group, pleaded for her incessant and aggravating bragging to cease all actions. Really now…she could be quite the handful sometimes, but she's too much today.

"Oh~ you remind me so much of your mother." Tsunade croaked out. Naruto certainly took interest in that because he's supposedly an orphan with no known parents as told by Jiji. Does this mean that the Third Hokage lied to him? Why? What's the reason to hide his parents' identity. The woman seemed to catch what she said, and looked absolutely shocked; she wasn't supposed to do that.

"Who's my mom, Baa-chan? I was told that my parents weren't important. But if you knew them, then they must be somewhat important."

Caught red-handed, Tsunade sighed, and revealed the identity of Naruto's mother. "Your mother is Kushina Uzumaki."

"Huh…so I have my mother's last name. Go figure."

"She was a Jounin ranked Kunoichi that was feared as one of the most terrifying Kunoichi of her generation. She had a nasty temper that only amplified her skills in a fight if she's called 'Tomato.'" Naruto sat on that thought, getting the picture about why he reacted so negatively at the name. It seems he did have his mother's DNA in him. Tsunade continued, "She was a master at fuinjutsu, or sealing techniques, and kenjutsu. Other than that, she was nicknamed as 'The Red Hot Blooded Habanero' for her red hair and temper." She snickered slightly as she still thought the name was absolutely ridiculous.

Naruto imagined his mother, and somehow gained an image that showed her appearance: long, red, flowing hair, an angular face and dazzling purple eyes that contrasted her hair. He didn't know how he got that image, but Kyuubi wasn't going to tell him. "What was she like?" Naruto asked.

"You act like her. The pranks, the happy-go-lucky attitude, the smile. You are really your mother's son."

"If I am, then why couldn't anyone recognize my mannerisms?! Why keep this away from me? I wanted to know who my parents were, but I was kept out of the dark for thirteen years. Thirteen! Why hide this from me? I had a right to know from the start!" Naruto's rage boiled over, and he could not quell it. He instinctively called Kyuubi's chakra, causing the boy to be enveloped in a red haze, his hair to become spikier, whisker marks darker, and eyes turn red at the irises. The Senju Hokage looked stunned as she stared at Naruto's anger steadily rose, and it caused the chakra level to spike higher. This alerted the Anbu squad positioned outside her office. They surrounded Naruto in a square shape, ninjatos drawn and poised at the blonde Genin.

Saber drew Caliburn from thin air, and took on a fighting stance. The other Servants appeared as well, taking defensive positions around their Master in order to keep Naruto safe from any sign of harm. The Anbu were unnerved by the sudden appearance of the Servants and their ferocious glare. One was particularly set off by Caster's appearance, and thought she was an underling of the Kyuubi.

"Tsunade-sama! What's going on?" Asked one of the members cornering Naruto. Her voice hid her expression in a cat mask.

"I revealed the identity of Naruto's mother to Naruto. And as you can see, he's not taking the reveal well."

"That's quite the understatement, Hime." Jiraiya commented while he sat at the window behind her. He examined his disciple eagerly; Naruto somehow still maintained control over his rage. It's quite amazing; he's become a bit analytic. Naruto knows that he can't just harm Tsunade because she knows something about his mother. "Kid." Jiraiya called to the Genin, "If you want to know why you weren't told about your parents is because you couldn't handle a secret. You're young, and the young tend to spout secrets unknowingly. Other than that, revealing your mother's identity alone could have spelled dire consequences like assassinations, kidnappings, or the worst alternative, invasion just to eliminate you from existence. We waited until you'd mature and understand the reasons we hid this from you." Naruto listened to the explanation very clearly. He waited a minute or so because he analyzed what he was told. After that, he nodded slowly; moreover, his anger subsided, and caused Kyuubi's chakra to recede into Naruto's body.

"Is that the same with dad?" Naruto asked seriously, "Is my dad's identity extremely important that you'd still hide it away from me?" Jiraiya hopped off his seat on the window to walk towards his disciple. The Servants sensed no ill will from the Toad Sannin, and slowly gave way to their Master. The white-haired man took his right hand and patted the boy's head.

He answered, "Sadly, your dad's more dangerous. If other's find out your dad had a kid, they'd stop at nothing to either kill you or brainwash you to be their pawn." The Uzumaki lowered his head to stare at the floor. His Servants looked at him with slight sadness, except for Alter and Ruler. Those two seemed rather indifferent, but they still cared slightly. "I'm sorry, Kid. If it's any consolation, when they found out you'd be coming to the world, they cheered. They couldn't wait for your birth."

"Don't be, Pervy-sage. I understand the situation. At least I got to know who my mom is and that my parents loved me. That's enough for me to know." Naruto said with a smile. Though deep inside, he still wanted to who his dad was just for the sake of knowing who he was. Deep inside, he still wanted to know what family felt like. He still wanted to know if he can find that feeling of family somewhere. The longer he thought about it, the more empty he felt, and Kyuubi sensed it. It can't do anything about that. "If I may?"

Too shocked at Naruto's suppressed action, Tsunade said, "You are dismissed, Naruto." The boy nodded, and all his Servants except Saber disappeared. He turned around, leaving Tsunade's office without a word. Looking at the two, the Anbu and Sannin honestly thought that the exiting blondes, one still with red hair, could pass off as brother and sister. Though the Anbu wondered who those random strangers were, and how they got passed their radar.

* * *

Naruto sat on a bench in the park for an hour. Why? He didn't know. He sat on the bench while staring at the pond, where the ducks would land and just swim on the clear water's surface. The sun shone brightly, making that water reflect like a white sheet of paper flowing on top. He still thought about his parents. How did he even conjure up that image of his mother? Did he subconsciously know what his mother looked like? He sighed, aggravated by today's events. And to end the day, he'd leave the village to train. Sure that hardly sounds bad, but he has to leave days after he woke up from his coma. He at least wanted two weeks before leaving. He grumbled to himself; he didn't like his situation. He didn't like it also when he gets smacked on the head with a force all too familiar to the blonde.

"Oww…!"

"We were looking for you for an hour! Why didn't you say you were here?" Sakura yelled from behind. Naruto grimaced from the hit and the volume. At least this way, he'll forget his troubles even for a little while. He turned to her as he rubbed the general area where Sakura hit him. He's pretty sure he sported a bump from that hit. He _might _have also lost the ability to think in the middle of battle. Which could be a terrible occurrence because he's a threat during battle because nobody knows what Naruto would do next.

"You said we'd go to the park. After all the hullabaloo, I went back here because I thought you'd be here, ya know!" Naruto answered. He turned around to see his friends just standing behind Sakura.

"O-oh!" Sakura stammered, "With that kind of answer, it does make sense that you'd be here." She chuckled nervously, and scratched the back of her head, "My bad. Sorry for hitting you." Naruto's eyes widened at that. Was this actually Sakura? Sakura never apologizes whenever she hit him before. He stared awkwardly at the girl while he sat of the ground with both hands behind him keeping his back from hitting the ground.

With an accusatory finger pointed at Sakura, Naruto shouted, "Who are you and what have you done with Sakura-chan?!" He would have gotten a verbal answer, but he knew better. He heard the distinct clunk that hit against his head, and his face met ground. With his hair still red, Naruto looked like a red patch of grass on the ground. Kiba couldn't help but chuckle at the sight. Mentally, the dog-lover snickered about the 'Tomato' comment he gave to the blonde.

"U-um…I think he's had enough head injury, Sakura-san." Hinata shyly stammered.

The redhead lifted his head, and shook it to shake the pain away. As he finished, his gaze lingered to his left. And what he saw looked interesting. He saw a little girl in clothes befitting Saber's and Ruler's style of clothing. The girl had white hair tied in two separate braids. On top, she wore a beret and ribbons at the sides. A white ribbon sat comfortably at the girl's collar, and a white, frilly covering that blended in with the sky blue dress that had puffed sleeves and a looped skirt. Naruto seemed unnerved by her sudden appearance. She looked like a doll with that porcelain-toned skin. She almost looked _dead._ She turned his way, smiling eerily at him. She spoke, but with the distance the girl placed herself in, she mouthed it. Even with the distance, Naruto heard the girl's words clearly.

"Follow me, Onii-chan~"

He stared longer than he should, and the others caught on. They looked in the general direction the redhead looked and saw nothing. Naruto on the other hand debated whether he should follow the girl or not. On one hand, she could be a very poor assassin with the style of clothing she wears, or she could be a, he shivered a little as he thought that the girl could be a ghost. He shook his head; he didn't want to think about that. But he had to follow that strange girl to at least find out about her identity.

Caster stared at the girl; she felt familiar… but where, when had she seen the girl? Archer noticed the girl as well, and he also sensed the feeling of familiarity when looking at her. Both Servants looked in wonder; they had a pretty robust memory recollection, but just trying to remember the girl somehow hurt their head, and eat away at their identities.

"What are you looking at, Naruto?" Ino asked. The boy stood up, and still stared at the area where the girl was.

"You might not believe me, but I saw a strange girl in a type of clothing that does not fit the general style of clothing here." Ino blinked. Naruto talking about style? Hah. That deserved a laugh. She actually had to clutch her stomach and cover her mouth at the implication that Naruto knew an inkling about the word 'style'. The dead last is talking about style of clothes. Charming. She might need to write that down.

"Did I really hit you that hard?" Sakura asked the boy, "We didn't see anyone, Naruto."

"Yeah, I didn't smell anyone over there." Kiba added.

"My Kikaichu haven't seen anything." Shino stated.

"U-um…I didn't activate my Byakugan, but even so, I didn't see anyone either." Hinata answered truthfully.

"I can the same as Hinata-sama." Neji answered.

"I did not see anyone," Lee replied, "What about you Tenten?"

"Nope."

"I'm pretty sure no one else saw what you saw, Naruto" Shikamaru lazily said to the boy.

"Uhuh."

"What'd I tell you?" Naruto said in a disappointed tone, "It's okay. I'll just find that girl, and see what's up with her. Something tells me that she's someone not from here."

Ino snickered, "What gave you the idea? The _style _of her clothing?" Naruto promptly shut his mouth. He knew better than to talk about style around the gossip queen. Being dead last destroyed any credibility for him to look smart anymore. He frowned.

"Nevermind. I'll just go look for her myself." He sprinted away in hopes of catching the girl.

"W-woah! Naruto come back!" Sakura yelled at the redhead, "Argh! Always charging before thinking! Get back here, you idiot!" The girl ran after her teammate. Whether she wants to punch Naruto for acting to recklessly or for ignoring her, it didn't change the fact that the Uzumaki would get punched. Surprisingly, Shikamaru reacted first from the group.

"What a drag. Are you going to just gawk, or are you going to help us chase after Naruto?" He left, not waiting for a response from his friends. The more eager rookies followed seconds later, and the more hesitant others lagged behind the second group.

Naruto followed the girl easily. She just skipped around to whatever destination she had in mind. Though the strange thing to occur to the blonde was that whenever he tried to catch up to the girl, he couldn't! And when he substantially gained some distance to catch her, she turned a corner, and he'd have to restart his chase. It's as if she had him in a genjutsu all the time! Caster had to remind him every time that the girl wasn't casting an illusion at all despite how shockingly illusive she was. The woman had tried extremely hard to remember that girl, and so did Archer, yet try as they might, they couldn't, or rather wouldn't be able to remember the girl's identity. Alter Ego sat in wonder as well, trying to remember who the girl was. She, being a part of Moon Cell at one point, learned of previous Masters and their Servants; this girl did not fit with her surroundings, and it begged questioning because she resembled one of the Masters recorded in Moon Cell's database.

The rest of the rookies wondered where Naruto was following the _strange_ girl to. If anything, they were running around the village with no rhyme or reason to show any possible theories of where this girl wanted to go. Either Naruto is stuck in a powerful genjutsu, or he seriously saw a girl not from here prancing around. Question was…how could Naruto only see the girl, but not them? Shikamaru already had ideas, and some of them were more of the spiritual than natural; he wanted to hope at least that this was a natural reason than the spiritual ones.

It took a while, but Naruto finally saw the girl slowing down. He sighed loudly, '_What a wild goose chase_…' He stared at the girl, who finally stopped at a clearing. She smiled at the Genin; however, the desired effect was lost because of her mysteriousness. Oh, and the fact that she has a twin for some odd reason. Yeah! The twin appeared out of nowhere. The girl in white turned around, and voila! A girl with the exact same appearance as her somehow emerged from her back as strong as it sounds. The only prevalent difference was the color of their clothes. The first girl had white and sky blue clothes, while the new one wore black and…a darker shade of magenta?

"So you followed us, Onii-chan! Alice is happy. Are you happy, Alice?" The girl in white, apparently named Alice, called to her twin also named Alice. What a strange name…it doesn't sound like anything from their language at all; it sounded old-fashioned just like her clothing.

"Uhuh! Alice is happy Onii-chan came to play!" The black Alice cheered, "You did want to play with us, right Onii-chan?" The way she said those words held some sort of longing, and it hit Naruto right at the heart because he knew that tone of voice. He had that hint of longing back then.

"O-of course, Alice." He successfully hid his slight stutter, but felt slightly disappointed at actually playing with a possible spy. Before he could say more. the other rookies arrived.

"It seems you brought friends to add more players!" _Players?_ _Why players? _

"Naruto? Who are those girls?" Sakura asked.

"You finally see them?" Naruto asked, mentally thanking Kami for not making him look like a fool or look crazy in front of his friends. "These, well at least this girl here-" He pointed to white Alice "-was the girl I talked about!" He turned to the Alices, "Alice, meet my friends. Friends, meet Alice."

"Uh…are both of them named Alice?" Ino wondered.

"Yes! Alice and Alice are both Alice!" The Alices answered together with eerie synchronization. The 3rd person usage didn't add to the charm these girls were releasing like mad. No they weren't trying to seduce the boys of the group -they're kids- but rather their unconscious childish charms activating to try and get what they want. Being Shinobi, the rookies didn't buy the cutesy act the two girls played. Either these spies were dutifully determined to finish their mission, or these are actually little girls. Many hoped the latter than the former because they really needed to talk to the Hokage about revamping security if these two obviously foreign girls are actually spies, and yet they haven't been apprehended out of suspicion.

"Okay, okay, Alice. Calm down." Naruto said to the girls. He lowered himself to get on eye level with the girls, "So you wanted to play? Then why did you go to this place? We could have played in the park." In the rookies' eyes, the question made a lot of sense. The park had a lot of room to play, but here, the forest surrounded them; this was no place to play a game of tag. Or it could be an ambush!

Nah… there's no way that'd happen, right?

Unknown to the rookies except Naruto, their memories were slowly being wiped. However, this did not just limit to just the rookies, everyone was slowly losing their identities. The Hokage, while under the influence, had no idea that she had no idea what contract she was signing. Three words: Icha Icha Movie, were the key words that were on top of the contract. Many male spouses had lost the ability to remember their loves' names, while their significant others smacked them, and forgot the reason why. As for Naruto himself hadn't been affected as of yet. His Servants were slowly losing their identities because this strange phenomena attacked the mind, where the Servants resided. Kyuubi was also affected as well, but it dissembled its lack of memories by not talking.

"Um…well this place holds a lot of importance to Alice, Onii-chan. And playing here makes me feel safe…" Alice answered somberly. She felt a pat on the head, and she looked up to see Naruto smiling at her.

"Well, that's understandable then. If this place hold meaning to you, then we'll at least acknowledge it. Are you happy with that, Alice?" Both white and black Alice nodded happily, their smiles beaming brighter than Naruto's grins. "What would you like to play first?" The girls stared at their mirrored other and contemplated what wondrous game they'd play. With a glint in their eyes, they happily cheered the name of the game they would play.

"Tag!" The two Alices cheered. Suddenly, the forest clearing turns into a plaza with a tall castle in the background. Around them, hedges several head taller than the group, surrounded them. Shikamaru guessed that the place might be a maze. But other than that, he and the rest of the others looked in awe at the important change in scenery. No doubt it was the work of a extremely strong genjutsu. Though they couldn't escape from it for some strange reason. Just as they tried to wonder more about this strange place, the Alices yelled, "You're all it! Catch Alice if you can!" The two retreated into the maze, and they disappeared from view.

"Oh great…" A voice muttered, "The kiddies brought another batch." The voice came from a teenager a couple of years older than the rookies. She had long, black hair flowing down. Her green eyes scanned over the 'victims' as she walked closer to the group. Her blue dress with a white front and blue trim and puffy, cuffed short sleeves looked somewhat similar to the style the other Alices had. Behind her dress, a white tie with a bow fluttered in the wind. Underneath, she wore striped stockings and a pair of black boots with five straps and buckles on each boot. She stopped once she came in full view.

"U-um-"

"My name is Alice," she said, "Yes, I know what you're thinking '_Another one?!_' and I too feel the same way. I come with a warning. Finish this game, or you will lose your identity." Alice warned, "You are all under a spell that slowly eats away at your memories; so the faster you end this, the quicker your memories shall return. If you don't finish in time, you might as well be reduced to babies." The rookies were wary about the older teen, but her tone made the story believable.

Skeptical, Ino wanted to ask, "Is there-"

"No. There's no way to remedy this. Unless…"

"Unless what?" Ino questioned.

"Do you know your names?" Alice asked, not bothering to beat around the bush when it came to protecting the rookies' memories. "You must know your names, right?"

"O-of course! My name is… It's! I-It's…" Ino struggled to say her name. It was at the tip of her tongue, but it won't come out! The rookies were shocked, the mind walker lost her memories. Even worse, they don't even know her name anymore! Wait a sec, they don't even know their own names! Well all of them except Alice and Naruto.

Alice stared at Naruto; more specifically, she looked at his left hand. Either in shock or surprise, she asked, "A-Are you a Master?" The Servants' eye widened. How did she know that term?

"Master?" Naruto asked, wondering which definition she's asking for. The rookies were wondering what that meant as well. Though the thought was erased not a moment too soon. The existence of Servants must be kept hidden. Alice's Servant willingly erased that memory to keep that secret safe.

"That mark…Alice has that mark! She called herself a Master because she had a mark."

"You? Or the other Alices?"

"The Alice in white is a Master. Though her marks are faded, sometimes gone… Anyways, the other Alice is a Servant, but also disappears sometimes." Inside Naruto's head, Archer and Caster's eyes widened. Alice…they remembered! How? How does she still have control of her Caster? She…she should be dead, and Nursery Rhyme should be in the Throne of Heroes awaiting summons! Could there be such a thing as a ghost summoning a Servant? In the virtual Grail War it's possible, but in real life, she should not be able to summon a Servant!

Though there was a lingering thought: what did Alice want?

A friend.

Could it be possible that as a Master, her desire for a friend reached out for a remnant power of a Grail to summon her Servant?

Other than that particular bit of info, they needed to warn their Master. But the problem was, Alice's Servant's Noble Phantasm is preventing them from speaking about it by erasing the thought! Archer and Caster struggled; they needed to get the information that would save his friends from total memory loss! "Anyways, you have no time to waste, you must finish the game, or you could fight her and forcefully end the game then and there."

"…"

"Why are waiting? You have to hurry!" Naruto nodded, and ran after Alice. The rookies followed suit because they still remembered the severity of the memory loss. Alice stayed behind, hoping to figure out a way to help the rookies. She just needed a solution, but what could it be?

"Penny for your thoughts, Alice?"

Alice turned around to see a striped cat appear like a ghost. "Chesire…Is there not a way to help those children retain their memories?"

Chesire, the cat, smiled, "Ah there is way, but let me tell you this. The easiest solution may sometimes be the only solution. What that easy solution could be is up to your interpretation. Cheerio Alice, and I bid you good luck." The striped, talking cat disappeared like a chameleon, and left Alice to decipher the hint she was given.

"What can I do?" She asked herself. Time was running out, and who knows how long do those kids have? Worse, what of the other villagers inside the Noble Phantasm field?

**A glimpse of the future****… **

The orange Knight looked at Lancer with critical eyes. He knew Lancer would be afraid of Kiritsugu. He counted on it, actually. He needed to have a bit of payback for lacing that ramen with the spiciest hot sauce, which made him spit flames like a dragon.

Speaking of dragons...he wondered how Kiryuin was doing. No doubt that dragon of his is just blowing off steam in the throne of heroes because his Master didn't summon him.

But back to Lancer. He had some payback to unleash. He cracked his knuckles, and his relaxed grin turned maliciously evil. His blue eyes sparkled before he disappeared in a burst of speed.

Saber was taken aback. No doubt this Servant is Caster. Summoning copies of weapons, summoning a lion, and now disappearing in a burst of speed; this is most likely through the means of magic, and it seems he is quite adept at that. She stood and She had kept count just like her father the area. Where could he have gone?

In a gust of wind, the orange knight appeared behind Lancer, with his hands intertwined with his middle and index fingers pointing up. Lancer, too scared of the lion to even look behind him, never saw the upcoming 'attack.' The Sneaky Servant sneered, "FOOL! You think you can get away from me?!" The pointed fingers created a small blue sphere of some sort of energy and he thrusted it into Lancer's behind.

"**ONE THOUSAND YEARS OF DEATH: RASENGAN STYLE!**" Lancer felt his behind grind in pain as the sphere dug into his butt and eventually spinning him out of the area as a sparkle in the starry night.

Kiritsugu looked at his Master with a blank stare. He realized it was one of _those_ moments. Realizing it wont get any action, it settled in front of Shirou and sat there to protect him.

Shirou felt bad for the spearman. That attack certainly looked painful enough to actually make him cover his butt to protect its virginity. Rin looked appalled, yet at the same time intrigued, what is this Servant's class? Saber, however, lost all respect for the other knight. She realized that the 'attack' was nothing more than a glorified ass poke with a literal spin on the end. She gripped Caliburn tightly because this was not the way a knight should act, and by all means, she will discipline him to the fullest extent!

Meanwhile, in another area, a priest, Lancer's Master, closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. He too wondered what that mysterious Servant's class is. Archer is the only possible answer left, yet he refuses to use a bow! As insult to intelligence, he even constantly uses magic to pose himself as Caster, and by God he's making it look successful. That strange sphere certainly was Magic of sorts; he just wondered how a buffoon of a Knight is able to cast such powerful magic.

"Hah! Take that, Lancer! I beat you with a glorified poke in the ass! Hahahahaha!" The knight laughed up a storm, not paying attention to his surroundings. Saber willed her body to not stab this Servant in the back -she's the King erm...scratch that the Princess of Knights- she's not going to violate the code of Chivalry.

She yelled, "Hey!" The laughing Knight turned around to see Saber's furious face, "Are you Caster? Answer me!" Her voice demanded authority and respect from the mischievous knight. Said Knight lost his smile, and replaced it with an imperceptible frown. It's all questions with this girl… He threw his sword into the air. It glowed as it twirled majestically before transforming into a futuristic motorcycle. It still had the standard two wheels, one in the front and back, but the front itself is significantly longer than the motorcycles of the present, and is littered with armor plates resembling his armor. It had mounted guns on each side, large exhaust pipes on each side, which spouted flames from it whenever revved, and a large coffin-like structure on the back. As the final detail, the motorcycle was in orange as well. Saber did not react externally, but on the inside, she lacked a calm mind. He's Caster, but rides a motorcycle that was a sword?

Shirou looked confused now. His Servant -still getting used to that- did some form of strange magic and now his sword turned into a motorcycle! He looked awed, yet at the same time bewildered by the fact that a Knight holds a sword that can turn into a far more advanced motorcycle than ones the world has today. On the other hand, Rin started to doubt her Servant now. This rather strange Servant showcased various skills only other Servant classes can accomplish, yet neither she nor anyone has figured out what this Servant's class is. Just looking at that motorcycle gives her a bit of a strange tingle down her spine; that coffin didn't help the situation.

The orange Knight revved the motorcycle, and charged at Saber. On the right handle, the Knight's right thumb pressed a button, which caused the mounted guns to fire. Saber readied her sword; she slashed at the bullets, rendering the ranged attack useless. As the vehicle approached Saber, the orange Knight opened the coffin-like compartment at the back.

A sword, a simple, double-edged sword, launched itself forward and landed into his hand. Out of the coffin, two cannons emerged as well. In a burst of light, the motorcycle and its rider vanished.

Saber became irritated. This Knight did not follow the Swordsmen oath! He and his Knightly likeliness refuse to follow the unwritten law of swordplay. If he isn't a Knight, then what is he? The brightly colored Knight would be someone noticeable in history, yet she does not recognize him as one of her Knights, nor has she ever heard of a magic-inclined Knight. It irritated her even more that this Servant showcased the skills of an Assassin now, and with a loud motorcycle, he hid his presence so professionally!

Suddenly, she felt a slight breeze originate from her right. Narrowing her eyes at the flaw in the Knight's approach, Saber exploited it as she anticipated where the next breeze would come from. Her smooth skin felt the slight tinge of air pass her by, and suddenly, she dashed in the general direction the breeze came from. She slashed at the general area, and immediately she felt the familiar resistance and clang of sword meeting sword.

She expected a snarky remark from her opponent; she didn't hear one. All she received were a multitude of slashes she was near ill prepared for. Both Swords/wo/men clashed, and despite the orange Knight riding on a vehicle, he was forced to dismount his motorcycle due to Saber thrusting her sword right at the Servant's breastplate.

The mysterious Servant rolled on the ground, and the motorcycle reverted to its original form. He disappeared into wind and appeared immediately in front of Saber. He lunged forward, but Saber blocked. He swung the sword diagonally from the right; Saber parried, and started a counterattack of her own. She aimed her slash at his open midsection, yet she was far enough that she only slashed cloth.

Saber lowered her sword, and asked, "How do you know the length of my blade?"

"My gosh, Saber-san...enough with the questions! I've had it up to here with my identity!" The Servant emphasized 'Here' with his hand well above his hooded head, "Look back to the abilities I've shown. Which of the classes did I not show?" He didn't let her answer because he started to go on the offensive. He raised his sword for an overhead slash. Blocked. Crouching down, he positioned his blade at his side, and slashed for her legs. The white-clad King stabbed her sword just to her right to stop the attack, but the force of her opponent's slash dislodged the sword from its position. She noticed the orange Knight handle the sword in a reverse grip, and then on, she felt her opponent's relentless assault as he twirled his sword with no room of error with each strike she blocked or tried to parry.

All of a sudden, he lashed out, arm snapping like a whip, and slammed his sword for her head. Saber instinctively forced her blade to protect against the oncoming sword to block it. What she failed to realize was that the sword transformed into another form. When she blocked the sword, she saw her reflection for a moment; she realized she looked at a mirror. Her opponent's sword shattered into millions of pieces, yet the Knight did not seem fazed by the occurrence.

Her vision was blinded by morning light burning her retinas even with her eyes closed. When the pain and the light disperse, she opened her eyes to see millions of the same orange Knight surrounding her with bows and arrows drawn and aimed at her.

"Surely, you're furious because I do not follow the Swordsman oath." The Servant stated with confidence, "But I assure you, I am not a regular Knight, Arthuria, I am but a shadow of your and other heroes' former glory. I am capable of being. Every. Single. Class in this Grail War, yet I've only shown five of the seven: Saber, Lancer, Rider, Caster, and Assassin. As you can see, I do not have Madness Enhancement on my person right now, which leaves me to my actual Servant class." Saber looked baffled. How is this Servant THAT class? He didn't show any aptitude as Archer, so why? "You want to know my class, then here is your answer, Saber!"

_**Ah…finally done. What a taxing few weeks. Sorry for the delay. Life happened. So to do counteract that, I made this chapter 17K words; my longest chapter so far! I admit this is more filler than plot, but that's because plot was shoved at the end to accommodate for the Tora chase scene and other stuff. Oh and also Naruto knows who his mom is! Sorry if you expected a furious Naruto to go ballistic about this information being withheld from him. **_

_**Also, for those who are interested in the 5th Grail War omakes, I have made a new fic: Eiyu no Kage: 5th Grail War as a separate fic that shows how Naruto changes the 5th Grail War as Archer!**_

_**So for my question: Pick two Swords from the Seven Swordsmen's swords that Naruto will find. Executioner's blade is a given; just pick two more. You cannot pick Chōjūrō's sword, Hiramekarei, because it's his sword.**_

_**This is Azure signing off.**_


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